“cosa raccontero’ ai miei figli, ai miei vicini di casa piu’ giovani, ai miei nipoti, cosa raccontero'? c’e’ chi racconta di guerre, di epoche d’oro, di musica stupenda, discoteche colorate, 68, rivoluzioni, canne lunghissime. io cosa raccontero’ di questi cazzo di anni zero? le bugie, gli i-phone, i computer, facebook, le memes, la germania, la grecia, cose brutte. niente colori. cosa raccontero’ di questi cazzo di anni zero? raccontero’ di me, dentro a questi anni, raccontero’ di chi come me non sapeva cosa raccontare. raccontero’ del gelo che sento, raccontero’ di abbracci negati e di webcam sovraffollate.”
—Teachable moments
- Cool, sorta "jock" student: YOLO, sir.
- Me: Hold on a sec.
- Student: *smirk* What, don't you believe in YOLO sir?
- Me: Actually I quite like the sentiment. But do you want to know a way to say the same thing but have people think you sound really smart?
- Student: Huh?
- Me: Well, you know how the sorts of people who always say "YOLO" are often using it as an excuse to do stupid stuff, so people think they're stupid? Well, I can tell you a way to say exactly the same thing, but people will think you're being really smart instead.
- Student: Yeah, alright.
- Me: Carpe diem. It's Latin, and it means "seize the day". So it's literally exactly the same sentiment as "you only live once", but people who hear it will think you're really smart when you say it. Carpe diem is YOLO for smart people.
- Student: ...Could you write that on the board, sir?