How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"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 […] and you believe them! It's such nonsense." (17.20)
Take it from Morrie: Being young is overrated. Youth comes with all kinds of the wrong priorities—beauty, looks, fads—and these things don't make people wise, only foolish and unhappy. It's not impossible, but it's very difficult for young people to have the right priorities. But at the same time, everybody wants to be young.
Quote #8
"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." (18.28)
We're talking about selflessness here. You can only be happy when you think of others before yourself, and to do this, you have to live with your heart. Morrie has learned that thinking of one's self only brings dissatisfaction and unhappiness, which will lead to caring about the wrong things.
Quote #9
He smiled. "You know what that reflects? Unsatisfied lives. Lives that haven't found meaning. 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." (17.26)
Getting principles, so to speak, will give meaning to your life, providing both structure and a reason for your day-to-day existence. And the good news is that once you get your priorities straight, it sets you on a one-way track; you can't just stop caring about the right things.