The Best Tuesdays With Morrie Quotes On Love & Death

Sergio: [News reporters are asking him questions] How do you guys sleep at night?
Mitch Albom: Most of them sleep with their wives.

You see, you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too–even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.

When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named levine said it right. He said.” love is the only rational act.

If you hold back on the emotions–if you don’t allow yourself to go all the way through them–you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid. You’re afraid of the pain, you’re afraid of the grief. You’re afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your heard even, you experience them fully and completely.

Nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say.

Dying is just one thing to be sad about. Living unhappily, that’s another matter.

Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.

Another wave says to him, “Why do you look so sad?” And the little waves says, “Because we’re gonna crash. All us waves are gonna be nothin’, don’t ya understand?” And the other wave says, “*You* don’t understand. You’re not a wave. You’re part of the ocean.

When we’re infants, we need others to survive. When we’re dying, we need others to survive. But here’s the secret. In between, we need others even more.

Love wins, love always wins.

Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. “a tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle. “ sounds like a wrestling match, I say. “a wrestling match.” he laughs. “yes, you could describe life that way.” so which side wins, I ask? “which side wins?” he smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth. “love wins. Love always wins.

Morrie Schwartz: But you know what I dread?
Someday soon someone’s going to have to wipe my a** for me. But, I’m a lucky man.Mitch Albom: You’re lucky?
Morrie Schwartz: Yeah. I’ve still got time to learn, time to say goodbye to the people I love. And time to teach my final course.Mitch Albom: About dying.
Morrie Schwartz: Not about dying, about living. When you know how to die, you know to live.

We put our values in the wrong things. And it leads to very disillusioned lives.

Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.

There is no such thing as ‘too late’ in life.

All endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.

There are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: if you don’t respect the other person, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don’t know how to compromise, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don’t have a common set of values in life, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike.’ – morrie schwartz.

You know anything about this disease that I’ve got here? This Lou Gehrig’s disease? It melts ya like a candle, you know? In my case, from the bottom up.

All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.

Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hold on too long.

No life is a waste,” the blue man said. “the only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we’re alone.

The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

I remembered what morrie said during our visit: “the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.”

“morrie true to these words, had developed his own culture – long before he got sick. Discussion groups, walks with friends, dancing to his music in the harvard square church. He started a project called greenhouse, where poor people could receive mental health services. He read books to find new ideas for his classes, visited with colleagues, kept up with old students, wrote letters to distant friends. He took more time eating and looking at nature and wasted not time in front of tv sitcoms or “movies of the week.” he had created a cocoon of human activities– conversations, interaction, affection–and it filled his life like an overflowing soup bowl.

Morrie Schwartz: [quoting W.H. Auden]
“All I have is a voice – to undo the folded lie – the lie of authority – whose buildings grope the sky. No one exists alone. Hunger allows no choice to the citizen or police. We must love one another… or die.”Morrie Schwartz: We must… love one another… or die.

There are no random acts…we are all connected…you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind…

When someone is in your heart, they’re never truly gone. They can come back to you, even at unlikely times.

Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent… But detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you.
on the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to leave it…you’re afraid of the pain, you’re afraid of the grief… But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely.you know what pain is. You know what love is. “all right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Holding anger is a poison…it eats you from inside…we think that by hating someone we hurt them…but hatred is a curved blade…and the harm we do to others…we also do to ourselves.

I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day.

Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

Death ends a life, not a relationship. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on- in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.

People are only mean when they are threatened.

It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.

How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day.

Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.

The truth is, when our mothers held us, rocked us, stroked our heads -none of us ever got enough of that. We all yearn in some way to return to those days when we were completely taken care of – unconditional love, unconditional attention. Most of us didn’t get enough.

If you’re trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down on you anyhow. And if you’re trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.

Have you ever really had a teacher? one who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine?.

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named levin said it right. He said, “love is the only rational act.

When you look into your mother’s eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth.

The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.

Detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to leave it.

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark. Even when you’re falling.

Be compassionate,” morrie whispered. And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place.”

he took a breath, then added his mantra: “love each other or die.

I also believe that parents, if they love you, will hold you up safely, above their swirling waters, and sometimes that means you’ll never know what they endured, and you may treat them unkindly, in a way you otherwise wouldn’t.

Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do somehing else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.

As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed as ignorant as you were at twenty-two, you’d always be twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.

Maybe death is the great equalizer, the one big thing that can finally make strangers shed a tear for one another.

Tears are okay

[morrie schwartz].

Mitch Albom:
I know I should’ve called. I’m stealin’ time from my boss here.Morrie Schwartz: You missed my funeral! Never mind. You’ll catch the next one.

Accept who you are; and revel in it.

Morrie Schwartz: [describing what he’d do with one day of perfect health]
I’d have a lovely breakfast: Sweet rolls and tea. Then a good swim. I’d ask my friends for lunch, a great lunch. You know, but… A salad or something simple. And then we’d take a walk in a park… with trees, so we could watch the birds. And we’d talk about how much we meant to each other. And for dinner, I’d take ’em to a place that had great pasta. Oh, boy. And a little duck. Yeah, I love duck. Do you like duck?
Mitch Albom: Yeah.Morrie Schwartz: Yeah. And then I would dance. Oh, I’d dance with my lovely partners… till I was exhausted. Then go home, and I’d have a great sleep.

But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.

Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they would be here forever? if so, then you know you can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.

The tension of opposites:
life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.

a tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.

A woman’s reputation is her worth… It is the way it is. You may hate me for saying so, but there is the truth. Do you not remember that this is how our mother died? she would still be here and father would be well and none of this would ever have happened if she had simply lived according to the time-trusted codes of society.’
perhaps it proved impossible. Perhaps she could not fit within so tight a corset. Perhaps I am the same.’
one does not have to like the rules, gemma. But one does need to adhere to them. That is what makes civilization. Do you think I agree with every… Decision made by my superiors.

Mitch Albom: I guess I’m just not really a touchy-feely guy.Morrie Schwartz: Yeah, it scares you.
Mitch Albom: Doesn’t scare me.Morrie Schwartz: Yes, it scares you. All this does. Everything we’re talking about… death, dying.
Mitch Albom: There is a reason why people don’t talk about these things.Morrie Schwartz: Hmm?
Mitch Albom: To spare people’s feelings.Morrie Schwartz: “To spare people’s feel…” I never have understood that. How can you spare someone’s feelings by denying them?

Life is a series of pulls back and forth… A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. Most of us live somewhere in the middle. A wrestling match…which side win? love wins. Love always wins.

You have peace,” the old woman said, “when you make it with yourself.

Morrie Schwartz: My father was afraid of love. He couldn’t give it and he couldn’t receive it either. Maybe that’s worse.Mitch Albom: Morrie, Morrie, we should stop.Morrie Schwartz: Not letting ourselves be loved because we’re too afraid of giving ourselves to someone we might lose.

Sometimes I see myself dancing, and I think… “Wow! Oh, boy! I don’t have ALS after all. It’s-It’s a big mistake. It’s all part of a lovely fantasy.” But just for a minute. Fantasy is useful. You can learn from it.

Morrie Schwartz: Usually in the morning, you know, before everybody gets up, I get so angry, so bitter. Just, what the hell did I ever do to deserve this? Where’s the fairness? I cry and I rage. I mourn. And then I detach. It’s over; that’s it;
all over. No more. I just look back on how I’ve been feeling and I say, well, that’s self-pity and that’s enough of that for today.Mitch Albom: Just like that? You just stop?
Morrie Schwartz: Yeah, that’s all the time I give it. Start thinking about the day ahead, you know? The people that are going to come to see me, the stories I’m going to hear, and all the stuff I’m going to learn.

Don’t cling to things because everything is impermanent.

[last lines]
[narrating] Have you ever had a special teacher? One who taught you things you may not understand, but who never gives up? Who knows the really tough lessons take a lifetime to learn? The last class of my old professor’s life took place once a week on Tuesdays. The subject was the meaning of life. The teaching goes on.

I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don’t allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that’s all.

Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We’re teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own. Most people can’t do it.

This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It’s knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work.

When you’re in bed, you’re dead.

If we accept the fact that we can die at anytime we lead our lives differently.

Why are we embarrassed by silence? what comfort do we find in all the noise? -morrie schwartz.

I like myself better when i’m with you.

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too – even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.

Try to imagine a life without timekeeping. You probably can’t. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. An alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.

Everyone knows they re going to die,’ he said again, ‘but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.

Morrie Schwartz: I passed a landmark. Remember what I said about someday somebody havin’ to wipe my *ss?
I’m there.Mitch Albom: You’re not gonna expect me to do that, are you?
Morrie Schwartz: Why not? You might be good at it.

One day spent with someone you love can change everything.

The truth is, part of me is every age. I’m a three-year-old, i’m a five-year-old, i’m a thirty-seven-year-old, i’m a fifty-year-old. I’ve been through all of them, and I know what it’s like. I delight in being a child when it’s appropriate to be a child. I delight in being a wise old man when it’s appropriate to be a wise old man. Think of all I can be! I am every age, up to my own.

Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to.

Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it…. So we kid ourselves about death…. But there’s a better approach. To know you’re going to dies, and to be prepared for it at any time….do what the buddhists do…ask, is today the day? am I ready? am I doing all I need to do? am I being the person I want to be?.

I give myself a good cry if I need it, but then I concentrate on all good things still in my life.