I’ve always been attracted to lists. Someday I’d like to write books of lists. And I’m confident that a list of things that make life worth living is a fundamental exercise for remembering what we’re made of. A map of ourselves. I would like to spend my time seeing what people write, the ten things that give meaning to their lives. I would have liked to read them all on the air. But on television words must always be used sparingly. Here, however, I have paper in front of me, it never limits me. Unfortunately and fortunately. This is my list. These are the ten things which, for me, make life worthwhile:

1) Mozzarella di bufala from Aversa.

2) Bill Evans playing the ‘Love Theme from Spartacus’.

3) Going to the tomb of Raffaello Sanzio with the person you love most and reading the Latin inscription which many are unaware of.

4) Maradona’s 2-0 goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico (my apologies!).

5) The Iliad.

6) Listening to Bob Marley singing ‘Redemption Song’ in your earbuds while walking along, free.

7) Diving, but out in the deep, where the sea is the sea.

8) Dreaming of returning home after you’ve been forced to stay away a long, long time.

9) Making love on a summer afternoon. In the South of Italy.

10) Turning on the computer after a day when they’ve collected signatures against you and finding an email from your brother that says: ‘I’m proud of you.’

1.

I Swear