Thank you so much my friend. I mean it. It's
unbelievable to be here. What an emotion.

My body is in tumult. I am really up and down
everything is higgity/piggity. I am completely

discombobulated, jet lag, but really happy
to be here together. Very happy. Very, very

happy. Thank you. Thank you.

The ceremony looks to me like a wedding. Yes,
to sign...we have to yes and like I get married

again. We can never honeymoon in Niagara Falls
tonight. It would be wonderful. The President

Gertler as the Pope. Like a wedding - a marriage.
Really you are so lucky so start in this wonderful

university, so prestigious. My God - a Doctor
in a Toronto university. I am a Doctor. When

I will be back in Italy, I am a Doctor in
the Toronto university, the largest department

Italian artists in the world, one of the most
prestigious universities in the world. Oh

my God. Now I forgot my speech.

I am really excited, full of joy, full of
gratitude to everybody. I envy you that you

are starting here in this wonderful university.
I am full of joy like a watermelon. Incredible,

incredible to be here. I told yesterday but
I repeat, this is one of the occasions where

I would like to be a dog, a little dog to
have a tail wagging in order to show you how

happy I am. I would jump in the arms of everybody
and licking everyone, like a little dog, like

a little dog. Thank you, thank you very much
from the bottom of my heart. Merci beaucoup

avec to ____, monsieur's and madams, ladies
and gentleman, and I would like to thank of

course President Gertler, thank you very much,
and Vice President Saimin and all of the Governing

Council of the university and Professor Literie
for his wonderful speech about me, thank you

very much. Thank you very much.

And you my fellow, my friend, my brother and
sister, my everything - I would thank also

the trade, the furniture, the wall - everything
- thank you, thank you, really a thousand

times.

Now, the Class of 2015 is the strongest class
- congratulations to everybody. A wonderful

day, a great day for you, for us. We are graduates
now together. My God. I have been told what

I have to talk about and I have been told...Michael
Literie told me you can give some advice.

Some advice, me to the graduates. So now you
will really forgive me my boldness, my audacity,

my shamelessness. I can you only about language
- you can hear my language. So for instance

I could talk to you today about the importance
of words. This is very important. Like the

poet Joseph Brosky said - I'm quoting him
about the importance of words "of being exact

in your language. Try to treat your vocabulary
in the same way as you do your bank account.

Pay attention to it, increase your revenue.
Not in order to be showing off your speech

in high society but in order to express yourself
in a complete and precise way." In the end

the goal is your own equilibrium and health.
That is because the accumulation of things

that one can express correctly will bring
ill health. Believe me, every day a lot of

things happen in our minds but our vocabulary
stays the same. And this is really very, very

bad. Feelings, nuances, deep thoughts, perceptions
that remain unnamed and frustrated, all accumulate

are repressed and then lead to an explosion
of violence. This is the reason of violence

in the world. They are not exact with the
words. They don't talk, they don't have words.

So read the poetry, please, read the poetry
and dictionary every day. It costs less than

a visit to the Psychoanalyst, believe me.
Don't hide in the comfort of your beliefs.

I would advise you to do the opposite. The
more skeptical, dubious, intellectually insecure

you are the better it is for you. Remember
this, remember - don't wait for the world

to take of you, take care of the world yourself,
at least for the part that you are able to.

Don't show off too much. Be modest. There
is always something unpleasant about living

a more advantaged lifestyle than others. Respect
life not only for its good side but also for

its difficult times. The good thing about
sorrow is that it never lies. Ever. Every

time you feel on edge, on the verge of desperation,
or in the abyss of despair, remember life

is talking to you in the only language it
is capable of, sincerity. Listen to it in

this moment. Don't be frightened of life.
Don't flee from it. As the poet Robert Frost

said " the best way out is always true."

Be in silence alone with yourself. The more
you can. We are always connected, connected

with everybody but disconnected with ourselves.
Think about your soul not only about your

body. We have raced so fast with our body
that our soul has been desensitized. It is

behind our soul and it is gasping - the body
is running too much and our soul is really

behind gasping, asking for information "have
you see a body?" We are going to lose our

soul. We have already lost it, we must be
careful. And remember that everyone brings

his own contribution, invisible but yet concrete,
towards good or evil. Identifying and fighting

evil is the start of every happiness. Be happy,
be joyful. The sadder you are the more vicious

you are. Remember. So really be happy and
dream. Dream of course, but be aware that

the best way to make your dreams come true
is by waking up. And respect the mystery of

life. We don't know anything. We don't know.
Life really is a mystery. The Italian philosopher

Nicolo Machiavelli said "you can learn what
you want, everything, but it's a mystery."

The Italian philosopher Machiavelli said "there
are people who know everything and that's

all they know." Because life is a mystery.
We don't know respect. Life is so much more

than that which we can understand. For this
it resists. Remember that that word is not

the conclusion as the poet Emily Dickinson
said, remember.

And fall in love. Fall in love. If you don't
fall in love everything is dead. Fall in love

and everything will be alive. Fall in love
now, now. Because we love always too little

and too late. Fall in love now. Don't be afraid
to love because it doesn't exist wasted love.

Because at the sunset of life we will be judged
on love. Because a _______[00:10:02] of creation

is love and because love corresponds with
the significance of all things.

Happiness. With regards to happiness, search
for it every day, continuously. Don't forget

anyone who is listening to me now must begin
to search for happiness now, because it's

there. You have it. Look all over for it.
In your closets or shelves, in the cubbyholes

of your soul. Throw everything in the air,
the drawers...you will see that it will come

out. Happiness is there. It was given to all
of us. We must always think about happiness.

And even if she forgets sometimes about us,
we must never forget about her until the final

day of our life. And so be happy and love.

And with regards to love, I would like to
finish my speech with a sonnet by Dante Alighieri

about love and I choose this sonnet ______
- it's a love song because Dante Alighieri

- the greatest poet in the world no doubts
about this...Dante Alighieri is something

that we cannot....Dante was able to find words,
remember for inarticulate, to capture those

feelings which people can hardly even feel
because we have no words for them. Do you

know we have a lot of sentiment inside the
feelings but we don't have words, poetry does

this - call this, give names. So we alive,
we are human beings. For poetry, and Dante

did this. He invented the 99 times a new word.
For example, restlessness - if a poet doesn't

invent this word, who knows when I am like
this what I am, I don't know.

So remember that imagine people comprehend
the incomprehensible demands immense resources

of language and reaching the meaning of words
and enchantment - because without enchantment

the rest is useless.

Now I will read you this sonnet of Dante.
I will recite it in Italian. Dante wrote this

sonnet about your age, he was about 22-23
years. So perfect this sonnet that it appeared

was inevitable. It's really an audacious beauty,
a standpoint of beauty. Every single line

of Dante, every single triplet of Dante is
something unforgettable, unattainable, unequalled.

And this sonnet...he was really very young,
he was your age and he was in love. He was

in love. Remember to be in love always. It
was dedicated to the woman who he was in love

with, Beatrice Portinari, the most exalted
woman loved by a man, believe me. The sonnet

talked about love and you can hear this in
Italian. You can hear the rhythm and the music,

I hope, and the mystery of poetry and the
mystery of life and of love.

[speaks in Italian]

Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare

Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare
la donna mia quand'ella altrui saluta,

ch'ogne lingua devèn tremando muta,
e li occhi no l'ardiscon di guardare.

Ella si va, sentendosi laudare,
benignamente d'umilta vestuta;

e par che sia una cosa venuta
da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare.

Mostrasi sì piacente a chi la mira,
che da per li occhi una dolcezza al core

che 'ntender no la puo chi no la prova:

e par che de la sua labbia si mova
un spirito soave pien d’amore,

che va dicendo a l’anima: Sospira.

Translation:

So gentle and so dignified she appears

So gentle and so dignified appears
my lady when she greets others,

that every trembling tongue becomes dumb,
and their eyes do not dare look upon her.

She walks on, hearing herself praised,
benignly clothed in humility;

and seems to be something arrived
from Heaven as a miracle on Earth.

She appears so pleasant to those who looks
upon her,

and through her eyes a sweetness touches the
heart,

which cannot be understood by those who feel
it not:

and it seems that from her lips emanates
a delicate spirit full of love,

that speaks to the soul: Sigh.