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Umberto Veronesi

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Umberto Veronesi

Umberto Veronesi (28 November 1925 – 8 November 2016) was an Italian oncologist and politician, internationally known for his contributions on prevention and treatment of breast cancer throughout a career spanning over fifty years.

Quotes

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  • In illness, pain for its own sake should never be accepted and should be countered by any means. Illness must increase, not decrease, respect for the individual's freedom, self-determination, and personality.
  • L'ombra e la luce, p. 64.
  • A waiting list thousands of names long is ethically unacceptable. On the contrary, living transplantation is morally permissible, as well as meritorious, which today is also a simple and harmless surgical practice, just as the condition of those who find themselves living with only one kidney is practically risk-free.
  • A state law, the one on transplants, voted by a very large majority in the incumbent parliament, has been overturned by obtuse and irresponsible statements. Superficial statements dictated by ignorance of the issue that risk jeopardizing the work done so far to give thousands of sick citizens hope for life and to relieve their families of heavy daily anguish.
  • It is too simplistic to believe that a child, in order to grow up in a balanced way, needs the presence of a father and mother of a different sex. No scientific research shows that being the children of homosexuals is dangerous to the acquisition of one's gender identity. The truth is that society needs time to adapt to change: just think of what happened 30 years ago to the children of separated people, who felt uncomfortable and tried to hide their reality. Now, however, being the children of separated people is almost normal.
  • Our organism, like that of monkeys, is programmed precisely for the consumption of fruits, vegetables and legumes. A meat-free diet certainly wouldn't weaken us: think of the gorilla's physical power. And let's think about the newborn, who in the first few months quadruples his weight by feeding only on milk. Not only would a diet of fruits and vegetables be good for us, but it would serve precisely to keep diseases at bay.
  • I am a committed vegetarian for ethical reasons (I don't want to satisfy my throat at the expense of the pain and death of other animals), but in making these statements I rely on more than established scientific reasons. We are surrounded by pollutants, which collective sensitivity now considers a risk to our lives. They are harmful substances if we breathe them in, but much more so if we ingest them. By consuming meat, we put ourselves in precisely this situation, because from the atmosphere these substances fall back onto the ground, and therefore onto the grass which, eaten by livestock, accumulates in its fatty deposits, and finally arrives on our plate when we eat the meat. A toxic substance is more dangerous if ingested than if breathed in.
  • Humanity risks a destructive ripple effect: depletion of energy, drinking water, and staple foods to satisfy unhealthy food consumption. Meat consumption has increased in China and India, just as it does not stop in the West. The numbers don't add up. Six billion inhabitants, three billion cattle for slaughter (every kilo of meat burns 20 thousand litres of water), 15 billion birds for food, production of fuels from cereals. There won't be any more food in a while. Wheat, soybeans, rice, corn are increasingly expensive and are going to fatten farm animals. We have to stop now. First step: becoming vegetarian, or almost.
  • I've been a vegetarian since I started choosing, and mine is a choice of love, philosophy, and science. Of love for animals and for life in all its forms, especially when it is helpless and cannot assert its desperate need to survive. No existence is small, none is insignificant. Eating is a form of celebration of life, and not denial of life itself to other living beings, because they are "inferior." There is no biological difference between animals. Why then is it horrifying to think of eating our dog, but we slaughter hundreds of lambs every Easter to celebrate? The philosophy of vegetarianism is nonviolence, and the violence to which animals for slaughter are subjected is brutal and cruel.
  • I am a vegetarian for ethical, not medical, reasons. Animals should be respected and not killed and then eaten. All animals. I am often asked why I chose to be a vegetarian. The first response is of an ethical nature. This is a choice I made a long time ago, because I firmly believe that men have no right to cause the suffering and death of other living beings. Animals experience emotions, pain, fear. What right do we have to snatch the lamb from the sheep to enjoy a leg of lamb, and the calf from the cow to have the "slices" that human mothers love so much for their children? I don't think mine are romantic ideas, without foundation. I still remember a shocking investigation into the real terror that grips the animals taken to the slaughterhouse, when they arrive near the slaughterhouse. Let's stop saying that animals "don't understand."
  • My commitment to vegetarianism has not only scientific and medical foundations, but also philosophical ones. Indeed, he was born in me as a child from love and respect for life in all its forms, especially when he cannot defend himself and assert his reasons. I have never endured the captivity of the farms and the cruelty of slaughter. Avoiding meat is a way to avoid the unnecessary suffering of animals.
  • My law does not concern the subject of the permanent vegetative state in its entirety, but only the right of every citizen to reject this unnatural way of ending his life. Today, the decision on how and when to extend care is entirely in the hands of doctors, while instead it is the inalienable right of every citizen to decide whether to start or when to leave supportive treatment. [...] In the past there was a fear of dying prematurely. Today there is that of surviving beyond the natural limit of life, in an artificial condition, devoid of consciousness and life of relationship. [...] Those who have faith will choose to trust God. Or, still by faith, he will refuse treatments that could save him (blood transfusions for Jehovah's Witnesses). Those who have no faith will be able to rely on the powers of medical science or choose to set limits.
  • (Commenting on the Supreme Court ruling authorizing the interruption of treatment for Eluana Englaro) The Supreme Court ruling does not sanction the victory of scientists, nor of lay people, nor of any political faction, but of citizens and the principles of the Constitution that protect their freedom. And once again, judges demonstrate their loyalty to the Constitution, and their intellectual independence from ideological pressures. Because precisely the rights of all citizens to individual freedom we are talking about. By "all" I mean believers and non-believers.
  • The very principle of the hospital must not revolve around the needs of the doctor but those of the patient.
  • Il Mattino, 25 May 2009.
  • If you are a good conformist and respect the rules, no ideas come.
  • I have become convinced that every religion expresses the need for a certain population at that historical moment.
  • Corriere della Sera, 4 February 2010.
  • Science and faith cannot go together, because faith presupposes blind belief in something revealed in the past, a kind of legend that still persists today, without criticizing it, without the right to question mysteries and dogmas [...].
  • From the interview to SKY TG24, 4 February 2010.
  • Smoking is more deadly than alcohol and drugs: 50,000 deaths from lung cancer each year. Those who start at 15 risk cancer at 45.
  • Quoted in City, 20 April 2010, p. 2.
  • The philosopher Singer, who is one of the greatest advocates of animals, coined a term called "speciesism," which comes from racism. For centuries we have been anti-racist, but now we are starting to be anti-speciesist, that is, we don't want to, we don't think it's right for one species, the human one in particular, to take over and attack other species. This antispecism began to be an important philosophical movement and with the participation of many valuable philosophers.
  • speech held at the Animal Consciousness Day, 13 May 2010.
  • I created an institute, the European Institute of Oncology, where animals are not used. If you search everywhere, search the entire institute, you won't find a place where there are laboratory animals.
  • speech held at the Animal Consciousness Day, 13 May 2010.
  • Homosexual love is the purest love, unlike heterosexual love, which is instrumental to reproduction.
  • The true innovator is a big pain in the ass, he doesn't like anything and he has to change the rules, he has to change his habits, he has to redo an organization and we are often not prepared.
  • The national health system has three flaws: the first is that it doesn't reward the quality of treatment; the second is that the national health system doesn't address prevention; and the other is that there's too much political infiltration, that's all. [...] I created the most advanced national system [...] in the world, not for quality, but for accessibility. Private healthcare has the problem that someone gains on the diseases of others, which is not something ethically very appreciable. Therefore this institute [the IEO], for example, has opened a new path: a private non-profit hospital, which therefore obliges us by statute to reinvest everything in research. We can't keep anything. [...] donors, who are also members of the board of directors, cannot take, withdraw anything.
  • From an interview by Alberto Nerazzini, Do ut des 2, rai.it, 2013.
  • Eating meat increases your chances of running into many serious conditions (some potentially fatal). I'm convinced it's impossible to count the number of problems we could avoid if we consumed less meat... On the contrary, plant-based foods have a protective function against the action of free radicals, that is, those molecules that can irreparably damage the structure of cells and their DNA: we often hear about them, «free radicals» is a term that has entered common parlance, yet we struggle to accept that to combat them we must adopt a vegetarian diet. Scandalous amounts are spent on antioxidant supplements that would combat aging and oxidation, when the best and most effective system would be to eat sensibly!
  • The commitment of a medical class more sensitive to human aspects is necessary, which must care not only about the body, but also about the mind. The mind is the place where medicine is perceived.
  • [The government is rowing] against e-cigarettes, with an incredible 58 percent tax rate that has caused many producers to disappear [...] [while thanks to e-cigarettes] 30,000 people could be saved a year in Italy alone. [...] Of course, the state makes more money from traditional cigarettes, it profits from this tragedy, but then it is forced to spend three billion every year to treat the 50,000 cancers that develop in Italy due to smoking.
  • I would like to see the debate for the liberalisation of soft drugs reopened in Italy too. The time has come to overcome ideological barriers and admit that prohibition does not serve to reduce consumption. The Constitutional Court's ruling, declaring the Fini-Giovanardi law unconstitutional, demonstrates, once again, the more civilly advanced view of our judges compared to Parliament. With the rejection of the law, which equated hard and soft drugs and provided for sentences of up to 20 years in prison, it was estimated that sentences for 10,000 inmates would have to be reviewed because they were related to the use of soft drugs, and therefore for minor crimes. This is a huge number, corresponding to almost half of all drug inmates, approximately 40% of prisoners overall. Now, it is estimated that about 50% of our young people use cannabis, in addition to many adults. Does this mean that half of young Italians are criminals? If that were the case, there would be all the more reason to consider Fini-Giovanardi a total failure. Putting soft and hard drugs on the same level is unscientific.
  • [...] now faced with increased infertility, both male and female, and procreation that is increasingly advanced over the years, we must find solutions. And the simplest is medically assisted procreation. (during an event to present the collaboration between the Veronesi Foundation and Aquae Venice 2015, Milan, March 2015)
  • If a person has a loving drive for their children, whether they are genetically his or not, it is very legitimate, whether they are gay or single couples. (during an event to present the collaboration between the Veronesi Foundation and Aquae Venice 2015, Milan, March 2015).
  • Many will want to know if in this reflection of mine, and study, and commit myself incessantly to so many causes I have found the meaning of life. Yes, I have an answer: life perhaps has no meaning. But that's exactly why we spend our lives looking for one. The important thing is not to know, but to seek.
  • Getting a child used to adopting a vegetarian diet from weaning [...] means giving him an indisputable health advantage, because it provides him with a strong and long-lasting defense against many diseases of adulthood.
  • Eliminating animal fats is always a lifesaver.
  • I am against the idea of waging war on the Islamic State, because violence calls violence. The more they cut off heads, the more we bomb: someone must stop this chain of action and reaction and must do so with dialogue and religious tolerance. The Is must be heard. Rather, a peacemaking effort must be made by those who consider themselves civilized, against irrationality. ISIS is made up of a group of Sunnis who feel marginalized in Iraq and have created a very extremist movement, effectively because they want a homeland and are calling on Iraq to cede a small area, no larger than Lombardy, to create the Islamic state. In practice, it is a group that has been divided by artificial boundaries for many years. The IS must be listened to, its reasons must be understood, because like other minorities in Europe and around the world it calls for a homeland.
  • Milanese people are productive, with a profound ethical vision of work, a strong sense of social justice, the transmission of well-being to future generations, and with total respect for civilization, rights, tolerance, and solidarity.

The First Day Without Cancer (2013)

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The First Day Without Cancer: The Battles We Have Won, and Those We Will Win, originally published as Il primo giorno senza cancro, translated by Hidoko Fudemoto, New York: Open Road, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4804-4290-0
  • We have reached the conclusion that what we eat is responsible for a large number of tumors, and that certain foods trigger cancer while others have a protective value. Meat and its derivatives figure among carcinogenic foods of the intestines. Meat, in fact, is particularly rich in saturated fatty acids, substances that lead to damaging activity in regard to our bodies in general. Furthermore, certain forms of tumors, such as intestinal cancer, are directly correlated to the consumption of meat, while others, such as endometrial tumors, are linked to obesity.
  • We have to consider that the foods we ingest let a certain amount of soluble toxic substances dispersed in the environment into our bodies. These polluting substances are harmful if we breathe them in, but they are even more so if we ingest them. By consuming meat, we put ourselves precisely in that position, because such substances in the atmosphere fall back to Earth, and hence, onto the grass that, when eaten by cattle, introduces harmful substances into their adipose deposits and therefore into their flesh, and finally, onto our plates.
  • It should be remembered that the pharmacologic treatment of raised farm animals can cause damage to the health of anyone who eats their meat. For example, the antibiotics that are legally added to animal feed—with the objective of preventing infections—can cause a resistance to antibiotics in humans. That is to say, a selection of bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics can be transmitted from animals to man through food; and can thereby generate infections difficult to stop (at times fatal, as with salmonella).
  • Fruit and vegetables, instead, are foods extremely low in fats and high in fiber: by easing the passage of ingested food, they reduce the time of contact between possible carcinogens—present in our daily diet—with the walls of the intestines.
  • A vegetarian diet, by reason of its low content of saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and animal proteins, and its high concentrations of folic acids, antioxidants, and phytoestrogens—shown to be effective in inhibiting the growth or in promoting the regression of serious coronary pathologies—constitutes a barrier against a number of chronic degenerative diseases, cancer among them. And that is not all. Fruits and vegetables—besides contaminating us much less than some other foods—are troves of precious substances that enable the neutralization of carcinogenic agents and that 'dilute' the concentration of diseased cells and reduce their proliferation. All of these advantages, as well as many others, emerged from studies on populations in the last century.
  • Prevention is within reach of everyone. And here are recommendations: abstain from smoking, eat less, eat mostly vegetarian foods, an active mind and body, and follow individually designed early diagnostic regimens.

Da bambino avevo un sogno

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Umberto Veronesi, Da bambino avevo un sogno: Tra ricerca e cura, la mia lotta al tumore, Mondadori, Milano, 2002. ISBN 88-04-51036-6
  • Every man is free to choose his own destiny and also to decide to end his own life, if the suffering becomes intolerable to the point of reducing the level of human dignity below the threshold of acceptability. (p. 118)
  • But I am even more convinced that, in order not to achieve euthanasia, whether passive or active, there is a fundamental goal to achieve: preventing the desire for death by doing everything possible to ensure that the patient, especially the terminally ill, does not reach such a state of suffering.
  • If it is treated well, the patient hardly asks to die. If he is cared for with affection, with love, without pain, he will not ask for a good death. (p. 119)
  • Experience has taught me that man, when he wishes to reach a goal, finds unthinkable resources within himself. (p. 219)

Dell'amore e del dolore delle donne

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Umberto Veronesi, Dell'amore e del dolore delle donne, Einaudi, Torino, 2010. ISBN 978-88-06-20133-3

Incipit

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«Even as a child, I sensed that that very singular smile represented a strange, small victory for every woman. Yes, an ephemeral revenge on dashed hopes, on the coarseness of men, on the rarity, in this world, of beautiful and true things. If I had known then, I would have called that way of smiling "femininity"». It is the incipit of a beautiful book by Andreï Makine, The French Testament, and could be for many men the description of one of the most intense memories each carries within: a woman's smile. For me, my mother's.

Quotes

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  • Sex is everywhere today: on the front pages of newspapers, on magazine covers, in advertisements, online, on all television channels. There is an ostentation, almost an obsession, which hides a fearsome void in my opinion. It is as if in the era following sexual liberation, after years of cultural struggles against obscurantism, sex was by no means a natural integration of male-female relationships. On the contrary, it returns to being the symbol of transgression, and intrigues only if it is forbidden, exaggerated, maniacal, magical, or even virtual. And from here to becoming an instrument of blackmail and violence, the step is short. The reason for this situation is first and foremost biological, and it is the price of equality between the sexes, an achievement that attenuates gender differences and weakens the spontaneous attraction that ignites sexual desire. (p. 53)
  • (Margherita Hack) She is the icon of free thought and nonconformism [...]. (p. 70)
  • Yet I am against abortion. We all are, I believe: there is no person who is not ideally opposed to terminating a pregnancy, because it is an act against nature (in the sense that it opposes the genetic imperative of reproduction [...]) and because it produces traumatic consequences from a psychological point of view. But condemning abortion with a law, making it illegal, does not prevent abortions from happening. [...] Voluntary abortion is a serious event, but clandestine abortion is a tragedy: therefore, offering a woman the opportunity to have a legal and controlled abortion corresponds to the choice of the «lesser evil». And so, within this lesser evil, the RU486 pill method –which I have supported since the first mentions of the possibility of its introduction in Italy– is the best choice, because it is the least painful for women. (pp. 98-99)
  • [We doctors] Wear the mask of conviviality on our faces –to reassure, encourage, give hope– and carry within us the nihilism of the helpless witness in the face of tragedy. (p. 104)

Essere laico

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Umberto Veronesi and Alain Elkann, Essere laico, Bompiani, Milano, 2007. ISBN 88-452-5953-6 (Preview on Google Books)
  • Children are immortality. Children will have more children and therefore life never ends. Our body dies, but our DNA continues. *Children have the same flesh, the same metabolism, and so on. Death is only that of the body.
  • There is much to believe: the strength of human values that the brain has progressively developed over the millennia to achieve ethical consciousness.
  • I consider it a shame not to keep a commitment, to take an incorrect and ethically illegitimate action towards another person.
  • I don't think I've been a successful man, because when I was a recent graduate and first set foot at the Cancer Institute, I was counting, with a whole life ahead of me, on winning cancer. Instead, cancer is not defeated.
  • We are here only by chance, purely by chance.
  • Early man, lacking knowledge to explain the phenomena around him, was naturally inclined to conceive of a higher power. Today there is no longer any need for religions.
  • Moving away from religion has made me mature.
  • Humans are the result of the evolution, which lasted millions of years, from the first amino acid molecule to us. *Psychologically, I believe we are the product of a number of dilemmas that for centuries we have perceived and left unresolved. First of all, the difficulty in understanding the meaning of life, that is, why we are on this earth.
  • I believe that big choices should be made in conditions of total awareness. Enlisting a newborn in any religion is a subtle abuse for me.
  • Quoted in Raffaele Carcano, Adele Orioli, Uscire dal gregge, Luca Sossella editore, 2008, p. 169. ISBN 9788889829646.

Perché dobbiamo essere vegetariani

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Umberto Veronesi, Perché dobbiamo essere vegetariani, in Umberto Veronesi, Mario Pappagallo, Verso la scelta vegetariana: il tumore si previene anche a tavola, Giunti, Firenze, 2011. ISBN 978-88-09-76687-7

Incipit

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Vegetarianism, understood as the refusal to eat animal meat, has been present since the dawn of our thought. It was originally mostly considered by ancient philosophies and religions to be a form of elevation from material to spiritual experience. Even in ancient Egypt, priests abstained from meat and fish throughout their service to the deities, so that the body, the shell of the soul, did not oppress it. In the schools of the Pythagorean philosophers of ancient Greece, all flesh was abstained from because it was considered an obstacle to the vigilance of the mind and the purity of thought.

Quotes

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  • Being vegetarian is the expression of a philosophy of life that excludes all forms of bullying and always privileges respect for all living beings. There is also an ethical conscience, an awareness of the principles of environmental sustainability, a desire to express love for the planet, and a culture of nonviolence. (pp. 8-9)
  • Always, as soon as I've been able to choose my food, I don't touch a bite of meat and, in fact, the more time passes, the more the idea itself repels me. I don't doubt that its taste can be pleasant. But can the criterion of goodness of taste ethically justify every act by which we procure food for ourselves? An episode comes to mind that tells the story of the adventures of the famous explorer David Livingstone. During his African expeditions he meets an elderly woman from an anthropophagous tribe who tastefully bites a child's little finger. Livingstone is horrified by the scene, asks her how a woman, probably a mother and grandmother, can commit such an act, and the cannibal's response, which even seems to show some amazement, is: "If only he knew how good it is!" (p. 9)
  • Meat consumption is the primary factor responsible for food injustice and causes half the world to fall ill and die from too much food and the other half from its scarcity. (p. 13)
  • [...] in general, 30% of cancers are due to a diet too high in animal fats. Furthermore, some forms, such as intestinal cancer, are directly related to meat consumption while others, such as endometrial cancer, are linked to obesity. (p. 20)

We know that the vegetarian diet makes us live better and longer, that it brings us into harmony with the environment in the present, and that it is a better guarantee for our children's future. (p. 22)

  • Many vegetarians wonder whether it is right from a health perspective to eliminate meat from their children's diets, fearing that some substances in the carnivorous diet are essential for their growth. It's an understandable fear, but unfounded. (p. 23)

Vegetarianism is a health defense that immediately proves effective: some studies have observed that children who follow a vegetarian menu become less ill as early as kindergarten, because they have better immune defenses than omnivores, who follow a diet that promotes a stronger inflammatory response. (p. 23)

  • The typical American diet, rich in meat and low in other foods, produces an accumulation of sex hormones in children that lead them to increasingly anticipate sexual maturation, even at the age of eight. Vegetarian girls, on the other hand, typically menstruate later than omnivores, and this in adulthood is a protective factor against cancer. (p. 23)

Interviews

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Veronesi: «Una regola d'oro, mangiare meno», OK salute e benessere, 14 October 2009
  • The risk of cancer is proportional to the amount of food you put in: more food, more risks.
  • Humans are primates, that is, they are modified monkeys, and they have retained their fundamental metabolic characteristics. Primates have been and are vegetarians [...].
  • [...] the so-called Mediterranean diet, based on vegetables, fruit, and pasta, traditional for centuries in Italy, has proven effective in preventing cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. The return to a Mediterranean-style diet has contributed, together with more effective drugs, to a decrease in cardiovascular disease mortality.
  • The Mediterranean diet is the exact opposite of the consumerist attitude of our «fluent» society. Rather, it is a philosophy of life and eating behavior and essentially consists of eating little, parically, Franciscanly, trying above all to abandon the unnatural condition of omnivorous (and therefore also carnivorous) animals in favor of a return to our ancient anthropologically vegetarian history.
From an interview by Dariio Cresto-Dina, Umberto Veronesi: "Essere vegetariani è una conquista di civiltà", l'Espresso, 19 March 2015
  • I consider vegetarianism a cultural achievement and a sign of civilization. Vegetarians feel like citizens of the Earth, because they don't have to kill and massacre its inhabitants to meet their basic need for food. Vegetarian pride is similar to that felt by Greeks who belonged to the first philosophical schools, and in fact, convinced vegetarians, from Leonardo da Vinci to the Beatles, have made their choice a banner, indicating a certain vision of the world: with less violence, less death, more conscience, and more sense of individual responsibility.
  • Einstein was probably the first to also define vegetarianism as a necessity for the survival of humanity, linking personal food choices to the balance of the planet's resources.
  • [...] vegetarianism is a choice of respect for the environment and responsibility towards man's future. But above all it is a choice of love for life and for animals. I realize it's hard to think of the terrible pain animals suffer when eating meat: how can we imagine that that thin, well-cooked slice they present on our plate was just a few days earlier a calf scurrying through the meadows next to its mother? Even less easy is to visualize the torture he suffered in the slaughterhouse.
  • [...] I recommend to everyone the book that has now become the cult of vegetarianism: If Nothing Matters [...], in which the American author explains why she went from carnivore to vegetarian. The central theme is the violence perpetrated daily against farm animals and the reflection on the consequences that this terrible pain has on human life.
From an interview by Dario Cresto-Dina, Umberto Veronesi: "Io non ho paura", repubblica.it, 2 November 2015
  • [Whether he would be willing to resort to euthanasia] Without the slightest hesitation. If an illness deprived me of my dignity as a person I would ask for euthanasia. I also made the living will that contains my wishes on the end of my life, in case I was unable to express them in person.
  • [If he ever had second thoughts about abandoning faith] Losing God forced me to seek moral values within myself. They are enough to give me strength. Ethical commitment is the only thing God left me. I have not had and will not have any second thoughts, but I have continued to study religions.
  • I consider death a biological duty and imperative. Since I was a boy I thought that life must end and has no metaphysical dimension. He who believes in the absolute finitude of life is always ready to die. There is no need to forgive or ask for forgiveness of sins or redeem oneself to ensure a good sojourn in the afterlife. If our ideas are our immortality, with our life of thought, every day we prepare to die.
  • [If you consider yourself a provocateur] I am not a provocateur unless by provoking you mean inducing a different view of things that is detached from the clichés and most popular positions. [...] You see, there's a double common thread that ties all my thought struggles together. The first is the need to shatter acquired legacies and truths to develop a system of ideas and values of one's own. The second is the belief that all phenomena have a cause and only by acting on the causes can even the most painful and tragic situations be resolved. This is also the meaning of my words about Is. Opposing violence to violence only fuels a spiral of blood, death, and fear. Exactly what the Is wants. Instead, it is necessary to understand the reasons for jihadist madness and intervene on these after having legitimized them, but decoded them.
  • [On his consideration of sex] Sex is a positive and indispensable vital expression. Besides being, I repeat, an imperative of DNA, which commands us to reproduce.
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