How It All Goes Down
The Fourth Tuesday: We Talk About Death
- Opening thought of this lesson: "Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it" (13.1).
- Morrie is in a business-y mood and has notes jotted down to keep his thoughts organized.
- It's late summer. Mitch has read about more bad news on the ride here; Morrie also now has an oxygen machine.
- Morrie says the best way to prepare for death is to always be ready for it, like the Buddhists do.
- Mitch describes Morrie as a "religious mutt" (13.12) who takes ideas from lots of different religions, though he feels most comfortable with Judaism, the belief of his childhood.
- Morrie emphasizes one idea over and over again: You can only learn how to live by first learning how to die.
- Morrie says that Mitch needs to make room for "spiritual things" (13.35), though he doesn't really explain what this spiritual stuff is.
- Mitch admits that he doesn't really understand spiritual stuff, but he knows that people are missing out on something about the universe.
- Lots of people are writing letters to Morrie, so Mitch is at Morrie's reading letters and writing replies along with Morrie's two sons, who are visiting.
- The younger men read the letters to Morrie and write replies while he dictates. The letters all tell about people who are suffering a lot and turn to Morrie for comfort and inspiration.
- Flashback to a recent conversation between Mitch and Morrie about Lou Gehrig, the athlete whom Morrie's disease is named after; Mitch imitates Lou Gehrig to entertain his friend.
- In the speech, Gehrig makes a comment about being "the luckiest man on the face of the earth" (13.73).