Morrie Schwartz
Morrie Schwartz
Morris "Morrie" S. Schwartzwas a sociology professor at Brandeis University and an author. He was the subject of the best-selling book Tuesdays with Morrie, which was written by Mitch Albom, a sportswriter who was a former student of his, and published in 1997. The book was followed by a film version based on the book that was made for television...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth20 December 1916
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
It’s natural to die. The fact that we make such a big hullabaloo over it is all because we don’t see ourselves as part of nature. We think because we’re human we’re something above nature.
These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. There were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship. Money is no substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you as I'm sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have.
And, in addition to all the miseries, the young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you don't know what's going on? When people are manipulating you, telling you to buy this perfume and you'll be beautiful, or this pair of jeans and you'll be sexy-and you believe them! It's such nonsense.
As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. 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
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.
You don't understand. You're not a wave. You're part of the ocean.
Dying is only one thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else.
For me, living means I can be responsive to the other person. It means I can show my emotions and my feelings. Talk to them. Feel with them …
The best way to deal with that is to live in a fully conscious, compassionate, loving way. Don't wait until you're on your deathbed to recognize that this is the only way to live.
It's not too late to develop new friendships or reconnect with people.
One hundred and ten years from now no one who is here now will be alive.
Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward.
After you have wept and grieved for your physical losses, cherish the functions and the life you have left.
Well, the truth is, if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time–then you might not be as ambitious as you are.