Tuesdays With Morrie Quotes by Chapter

"Mitch, you are one of the good ones," he says, admiring the briefcase. Then he hugs me. I feel his thin arms around my back. I am taller than he is, and when he holds me, I feel awkward, older, as...

For all that was happening to him, his voice was strong and inviting, and his mind was vibrating with a million thoughts. He was intent on proving that the word "dying" was not synonymous with "use...

I wandered around in my early twenties, paying rent and reading classifieds and wondering why the lights were not turning green for me. My dream was to be a famous musician (I played the piano), bu...

"Ted," he said, "when all this started, I asked myself, 'Am I going to withdraw from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live?' I decided I'm going to live—or at least try to live—...

But Morrie, this new, withered version of a man I had once known so well, was smiling in the car, hands folded in his lap, waiting for me to emerge. (5.8)

What had happened to me? The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened. I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never even r...

I had also developed my own culture. Work. I did four or five media jobs in England, juggling them like a clown. I spent eight hours a day on a computer, feeding my stories back to the States. […...

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give our love, and to let it come in." (8.38)

"Mitch, I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that's all." (9.13)

But it was also becoming clear to me—through his courage, his humor, his patience, and his openness—that Morrie was looking at life from some very different place than anyone else I knew. A hea...

This time, when the cameramen and producers came through the door, they already felt like family. And Koppel himself was noticeably calmer. There was no feeling-out process, no interview before the...

This, for Morrie, was a blessing. He hated the place. He made another vow that he kept to the end of his life: he would never do any work that exploited someone else, and he would never allow himse...

"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?'" (13.9)

"Whenever people ask me about having children or not having children, I never tell them what to do," Morrie said now, looking at a photo of his oldest son. "I simply say, 'There is no experience li...

"[But by throwing yourself into these emotions,] you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, 'All righ...

They also missed compassion—something the staff ran out of quickly. And many of these patients were well-off, from rich families, so their wealth did not buy them happiness or contentment. It was...

But then I figured, 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? (17.8)

"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 overwhelm...

"Ahhhh, it's my buddy," he would say when he saw me, in that foggy, high-pitched voice. And it didn't stop with the greeting. When Morrie was with you, he was really with you. He looked you straigh...

"But the poor kids today, either they're too selfish to take part in a real loving relationship, or they rush into marriage and then six months later, they get divorced. They don't know what they w...

It was a tense scene as the principals all turned to face the jury, Simpson, in his blue suit, surrounded by his small army of lawyers, the prosecutors who wanted him behind bars just a few feet aw...

Later, Morrie would grin mischievously and say, "I'm getting to him." And he was. Koppel now referred to Morrie as "a friend." My old professor had even coaxed compassion out of the television busi...

"Over the years, I met Norman a few times and he always tried to reconcile, but I didn't accept it. I wasn't satisfied with his explanation. I was prideful. I shrugged him off." (23.10)

His eyes widened. "Mitch, it was a most incredible feeling. The sensation of accepting what was happening, being at peace." (24.15)

"You… are a good soul." A good soul."Touched me…" he whispered. He moved my hands to his heart. "Here."It felt as if I had a pit in my throat. Coach?"Ahh?"I don't know how to say good-bye.He pa...

Mostly I want to tell that person to get on an airplane and visit a gentle old man in West Newton, Massachusetts, sooner rather than later, before that old man gets sick and loses his ability to da...

What a thing for a onetime agnostic to say. Too harmonious, grand, and overwhelming a universe to believe that it's all an accident? (28.20)