Countdown
Okay! I will accept the statistics. How, in the trash heap of social media, only 2 out of 10 posts are worth writing, publishing, and of course, reading. And certainly worth being shared by all those sensitive to reading such posts.
Yesterday, on my first glance at my phone, Facebook suggested Robert De Niro. I admit I had a sense that something remarkable was going on with this great actor, one of those who honor their identity through actions, not just words. What identity? Actor means light, says a well-known saying in a Greek song by composer Manos Hadjidakis…
So I start reading what I discovered:
"At a glamorous Manhattan charity gala filled with billionaires and power brokers, Robert De Niro did something no one else dared: he told them the truth to their faces.
The evening was meant to honor De Niro for his charitable work.
But instead of giving a polite acceptance speech, he took the microphone, looked directly at the front table where several tech moguls were seated, and said in his trademark calm, iron tone: 'If you can spend billions building rockets, apps, and virtual worlds, you can spend a fraction of that to feed children and rebuild communities.
You want to call yourselves visionaries? Then prove it with compassion, not press releases.'
The ballroom froze.
Forks stopped mid-air.
Cameras caught Mark Zuckerberg staring at the tablecloth, expression unreadable.
Elon Musk didn’t twitch.
But De Niro wasn’t finished. He continued without shouting, without theatrics, just raw moral weight: 'Greatness is not measured by what you build… but by whom you lift.'
Then came the shock. In front of the entire elite audience, De Niro announced he would personally donate 8 million dollars of recent film earnings and work profits to a foundation funding housing, mental health, and rehabilitation programs for struggling families in Los Angeles.
The crowd gasped.
Some stood.
Most didn’t know what to do.
And then he closed with the line that struck like lightning:
'Greed is not power. Compassion is.
That night, Robert De Niro didn’t just speak.
He set the standard."
You might say, “So what? It’s America; anything can be said there. Good or bad, beautiful or ugly.” I’ll tell you! I prefer that atmosphere to ours, where it is rare to hear public speech, or a confrontation, directed at those with money or other forms of power.
At least De Niro preserved the belief that, yes: actor means light. Even alone, his light was and will remain blinding… For those who still believe that an actor is someone who, with the light of his spirit, shapes moral character.