Life lessons: Luca Bassani

Luca Bassani, 54, is the founder of Wally, the luxury yacht and motorboat manufacturer. A keen yachtsman, he has owned 25 boats and has been sailing for almost 40 years. Born into a wealthy Milanese family, he is married with three children and lives in Monaco

1. Always be hungry. Humanity is divided into people with a full belly, and people with empty stomachs, metaphorically. Many who are successful (not to be confused with glory; success is relative and intimate) in life are intellectually very curious. They always go further and explore new paths.

2. Respect and be respected. Respecting others is as important as being respected by others. You should try to go on “credit” by not abusing your power over people you relate to, but then you should gently but firmly demand the same from them. And the respect rule does not go on holiday! Always apply it; a distraction can ruin a relationship forever. As you age you understand that it takes years to reap the respect you have been seeding, while you reap the lack of respect in a much shorter time and with hugely inflated interest.

3. Mistakes tend to be repetitive. One of the biggest surprises I faced when I turned 50 was to realise that we tend to make the same mistakes throughout life.  This does not mean being blind and forgetful, because with time we make fewer mistakes, but mistakes are always the same type. Perhaps because even if our reason tries to make us avoid these errors, our character leads us to repeat them.

4. Do not show off. Humanity is by nature jealous and if you are lucky enough to be a winner in life, you become a powerful catalyst of this envy, both private and collective. So do not boast of your achievements, otherwise the world will do everything to make you lose them.

5. Women know how to love better than men. They love more deeply and are capable of giving more. Perhaps it is this difference that makes it so difficult to have successful relationships.

As told to Helena Frith Powell