Leopardi e la pedagogia del saper vivere

Abstract

Leopardi has always taken great interest in questions of practical ethics. In his own youth he was influenced by Stoicism. The theme of practical living (savoir vivre) is present in his various writings, like Operette morali and Zibaldone. Leopardi's aim is to give useful advice to young people in order to make them smarter and shrewder in their social life. This purpose is very clear in his one hundred and eleven Pensieri, where he conveys his knowledge of men and the world. In his Pensieri it is easy to recognize a sort of Machiavelli’s Principe for young people which he had been determined to write for some time.