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La libertà è fare ciò che è giusto.

La libertà è fare ciò che è giusto.
Freedom is doing what is right.
From Lesson 155:Compound relative pronouns (quello che, ciò che)·Italian

Questions & Answers about La libertà è fare ciò che è giusto.

Why does the sentence use ciò che instead of just che or cosa for "what"?
In Italian, when "what" means "that which" or "the thing that" in the middle of a statement, you cannot use just che or cosa. You have to use a compound relative pronoun. ciò che literally translates to "that which". You could also use quello che here with the exact same meaning: La libertà è fare quello che è giusto.
The English translation says "doing", so why is the infinitive fare used instead of a gerund like facendo?
In Italian, when a verb acts as a noun in a sentence (like in this case, defining what freedom is), you must use the infinitive form (fare). The gerund (facendo) is used for continuous, ongoing actions, like "I am doing" (sto facendo), or to mean "by doing".
Why is it La libertà and not just Libertà? English doesn't use "The" here.
In Italian, abstract nouns and general broad concepts (like freedom, love, or life) almost always require a definite article. So, a general statement like "Freedom is..." becomes La libertà è... in Italian.
Would giusto ever change its ending here, for example to giusta?
No, it stays masculine singular (giusto) because it describes the abstract concept of ciò che (that which / what). The phrase ciò che is always treated as a masculine, singular idea for the purpose of adjective agreement.

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