Thu, September - 9 - 2010 |
(on a truly global perspective)
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It is common to hear talking about courage around here and we quite often use this word even if we are not ever aware of its real meaning. If everyone tries to place it in his mind, it could be possible at worst to find a meaning corresponding to the definitions we find in the most known Italian language dictionaries. Personally I agree with that one in De Mauro Paravia dictionary which says that courage is ” the strength of mind that let us stay steadfast in difficult or dangerous adversities of our life”. In this case it is used to say “a great courageous man”. There is someone who believes that courage is the power of overcoming and starting again after a quite painful situation. Someone else believes that a courageous man is who is able to kick a goal to the life like a conclusive game. There is also who thinks that courage means to be outspoken. Some years ago I read this dedication in a student’s graduation thesis: “in memory of my father and my mother’s courage”. The courage of a mother who overcame greatly the difficult situations of her life.
“Curaggiu ci voli, a fari sta cosa”. “Chissu, curaggiusu è!”. !”( it needs courage to do this thing. This is courage) (sicilian dialect).
These words conjure up the Sicily where we are, the earth of mafia but also of the honest people, the earth of wellness but also of poverty, the earth of weak people but also the powerful ones, the earth of immigrants and emigrants, the earth of the ultraconservative policy but in the same time of innovation, there are the domineering and also the right men, the courageous and the coward ones.
Here one can be pointed out like being courageous. Why and for what ?
The courage of being there, of remaining the same, of defending the ideals of ever telling the truth and one’s own thoughts. The courage to walk on with one’s head held high, even when it could be safer to lower it.Sicily is the earth of those entrepreneurs who had the courage of saying that’s enough! Cut the oppressions, there’s been enough arrogance from the mafia.They are those entrepreneurs who want to walk on with their heads held high and be an example for the whole society where they live and work also for their own sons. It’s the earth of those who want to pass their values and not mean actions, of those who want to create the best conditions in order to liberate Sicily from the mafia oppression and from a subculture based on destruction and inaction.
The image of an entrepreneur is the same all over the world. He is the man who takes a chance on doing business although he couldn’t earn a profit against his own investment. Business does not mean the same thing all over the world! Managing your business to make profits is not the same thing all over the world. In Sicily entrepreneurs every day must face a lot of difficulties, even risk their lives just by attempting to enter the free trade market.
Maybe one day the Sicilians entrepreneurs will present a conference to an audience made of German and Norwegian colleagues in Frankfurt or Oslo and they will explain to them what is the courage of being Sicilians and particularly entrepreneurs.The courage to remain in our own country to create and promote employment to honour the lives of several judges, policemen and colleagues killed by violent acts of people believing that ultraconservative policy must rule Sicily. We can say, like Tancredi did in Tomasi di Lampedusa ‘s book “Il Gattopardo” (The Serval): “It needs to change all, if we want that everything remains the same”. No we don’t say that!
We would like our strength of mind to prevail over us and let us face every difficult situations of our life. This strength will let us refuse every illicit request and will not let us agree to any compromise to obtain something that we can have legally. It always needs to remain the same with all the people, to defend our own ideals and to express our thoughts, we must confront our fears .
Italy is the nation of poets, saints and sailors..........Sicily is the resourceful, courageous and fair men’s land.
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