Non insegnate ai bambini [English translation]

Don't teach the children,

don't teach your morality:

it's so tired and sick,1

it may cause harm.

Maybe it's a serious imprudence

to leave them at the mercy of a false conscience.

Don't praise thought,

which is more and more rare.

Don't indicate

a known path for them,

but if you really want to,

just teach them the magic of life.

Round and round2, the world changes.

Don't teach the children,

don't spread social delusions,

don't clutter their future

with old ideas.

The only safe thing is to keep them away

from our culture.

Don't exalt talent,

which is growing duller and duller.

Don't direct them towards singing3, acting or dancing,

but if you really want to,

just tell them about the dream

of an ancient hope.

Don't teach the children,

but cultivate yourself, your heart and mind.

Always be by their side,

always trust in love, the rest means nothing.

Round and round, the world changes.

Round and round, the world changes.

1. This doesn't mean "sick and tired". It literally means that the moral system is "tired" (old, outdated) and "sick" (wrong, harmful).2. Giro giro tondo {turn turn round} is an equivalent of the children's song Ring Around the Rosie. It goes like

"giro giro tondo, casca il mondo,

casca la Terra, tutti giù per terra."

{turn turn round, the world falls down,

the Earth falls down, everybody on the ground.}3. Bel canto {beautiful singing} is any "noble" form of singing, like opera singing.