In these days of the new, when we all, in the serenity of our hearts, look at our recent and distant past and take stock of it; in this serene time when we look at the horizons of a bright future, my thoughts turn to you, young people. I love you deeply, and I see you all through the eyes of a father and a man who always thinks with his soul turned towards the future. You are for me like the salt of the earth, the grown-ups and sentinels of tomorrow, worthy, like every other human being, of living in pursuit of happiness. Your eyes are bright and full of great energy: I always glimpse in you something that can be joy, hope, and sometimes even disappointment. The sparkle in your eyes is so vital that, even when I find myself in business circumstances, I instinctively leave the usual form for the unusual, and speak to you with the simplicity that unites brother to brother. I wasn’t much different from you, at your age. Today I am a man who has followed his special dream, someone who has finally fulfilled the ancient desire, born out of my teary-eyed father offended at work, the dream of living humanistically towards himself and towards others.

I often tell you how wealth is not, as it may seem, a light weight to bear, and only if you know how to turn it into a gift is it acceptable to the righteous man. You might encounter grief in life, unfortunately, as a creeping enemy who awaits each one, lurking in the future. But at the same time pain, as so many ancient scholars teach us, is a gift, and as Oscar Wilde put it, who had it as a companion for over two years in the Reading prison, “it is the most sensitive of all created things.”

Never be too afraid of your mistakes, which are everyone’s mistakes, because it is from failure that greatness is born again; do not be ashamed to weep, because, as the great racing pilot Ayrton Senna once said, tears are the fuel of the soul. Remember that one noble gesture redeems more than one mistake. Never feel that you are better than others, because in all of us there is always room for great ideas. Be considerate towards others, in your family affections, in your studies, in your work, in your love life, because if you remain too focused on yourself, the right path will remain uncertain. Happiness lies not so much in possessing the thing we love, but in loving what is worthy of love.

May Creation protect us! Brunello

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