Tuesdays with Morrie

by Mitch Albom

“Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do”; “Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it”; “Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others”; “Don’t assume that it’s too late to get involved.”

“Have you found someone to share your heart with?” he asked. “Are you giving to your community? “Are you at peace with yourself? “Are you trying to be as human as you can be?”

“Dying,” Morrie suddenly said, “is only one thing to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappily is something else.

Yet they gave up days and weeks of their lives, addicted to someone else’s drama.

“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.”

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

“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 Levine said it right. He said, ‘Love is the only rational act.’ ”

‘Love is the only rational act.

Why are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise?

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.”

We’re so wrapped up with egotistical things,

So we don’t get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing?”

So I wrote this list: Death Fear Aging Greed Marriage Family Society Forgiveness A meaningful life

His voice cracked. “ ‘… because I was so lonely …’ ”

“Morrie,” Koppel said, “that was seventy years ago your mother died. The pain still goes on?” “You bet,” Morrie whispered.

^THIS. ALWAYS^

“Let’s begin with this idea,” Morrie said. “Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it.”

To know you’re going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time. That’s better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you’re living.”

“Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, ‘Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?’ ”

“The truth is, Mitch,” he said, “once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”

“most of us all walk around as if we’re sleepwalking. We really don’t experience the world fully, because we’re half-asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do.”

“The things you spend so much time on—all this work you do—might not seem as important. You might have to make room for some more spiritual things.”

“Is it today, little bird?” he asked. “Is it today?”

“Love each other or perish,” Morrie said. “It’s good, no? And it’s so true. Without love, we are birds with broken wings.

Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until sixty-five.

“You have to find what’s good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now.

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

“Mitch, if you’re trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down at 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.”

“I believe in being fully present,” Morrie said. “That means you should be with the person you’re

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. “And the biggest one of those values, Mitch?” Yes? “Your belief in the importance of your marriage.”

“Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hang on too long.”

“Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others.”

Why do we do the things we do?”

“Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Don’t wait, Mitch.

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

how could he find perfection in such an average day? Then I realized this was the whole point.

Love is when you are as concerned about someone else’s situation as you are about your own.

there is no such thing as “too late” in life.

“I heard a small sad sound, And stood awhile among the tombs around: ‘Wherefore, old friends,’ said I, ‘are you distrest, Now, screened from life’s unrest?’ —‘O not at being here: But that our future second death is near; When, with the living, memory of us numbs, And blank oblivion comes!’ ” —THOMAS HARDY, “THE TO-BE-FORGOTTEN”

Giving makes me feel like I’m living.

That you spent your days giving. Of your time. Of your heart. Of yourself. That’s how you live on, for a day, or, through others, generations.