Tuesdays with Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson

by Mitch Albom

ALS is like a lit candle: it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax.

“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.”

“I’m on the last great journey here—and people want me to tell them what to pack.”

“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.

“Which side wins?” He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth. “Love wins. Love always wins.”

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

“Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”

“You know what the Buddhists say? Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent.”

Forget what the culture says. I have ignored the culture much of my life. I am not going to be ashamed. What’s the big deal?

“Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness.

“Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary, you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.”

“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn. ” —MAHATMA GANDHI

no matter where you live, the biggest defect we human beings have is our shortsightedness.

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

“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.”

“Love each other or die.”

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