Quotes from Mitch Albom

Because there was a ghost involved, you may call this a ghost story. But what family isn't a ghost story? Sharing tales of those we've lost is how we keep from really losing them.

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 - the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humour, with composure.

A wrestling match.. Yes, you could describe life that way. So which side wins, I ask? He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth. Love wins. Love always wins.

Everyone joins a band in this life. And what you play always affects someone. Sometimes, it affects the world. Frankie's symphony ends. And so, at last, we rest.

Worry is something you create ... to fill a void [of] faith

I give myself a good cry if I need it, but then I concentrate on all good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories that I'm going to hear. On you, if it's Tuesday. Because we're Tuesday people.

ALS is like a lit candle: it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax.. you cannot support yourself standing.. you cannot sit up straight. By the end, if you are still alive.. your soul, perfectly awake, is imprisoned inside a limp husk.. like something from a science fiction movie, the man frozen inside his own flesh.

We're Tuesday people," he said. Tuesday people, I repeated. Morrie smiled.

It's only horrible if you see it that way, Morrie said. It's horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing. But it's also wonderful because of all the time I get to say good-bye. He smiled. Not everyone is so lucky.

When a colleague at Brandeis died suddenly of a heart attack, Morrie went to his funeral. He came home depressed. "What a waste," he said. "All those people saying those wonderful things, and Irv never got to hear any of it".

I dropped my eyes, kneading the dying flesh of his feet between my fingers. For a moment, I felt afraid, as if accepting his words would somehow betray my own father. But when I looked up, I saw Morrie smiling through tears and I knew there was no betrayal in a moment like this. All

Mitch, it is impossible for the old not to envy the young. But the issue is to accept who you are and revel in that. This is your time to be in your thirties. I had my time to be in my thirties, and now is my time to be seventy-eight.

Eddie admitted that some of his life he'd spent hiding from God, and the rest of the time he thought he went unnoticed.

the classroom as a living, breathing place. They chose discussions over lectures, experience over theory. They sent students to the Deep South for civil rights projects and to the inner city for fieldwork. They went

I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not move quickly enough.

Secrets, they'll tear you apart.

Did you ever wonder? Why people gather when others die? Why people feel they should? It is because the human spirit know, deep down, that all lives intersect.

In any conversation, I was taught, there are at least three parties: you, the other person, and the Lord.

Don't fall asleep in classes. It's such a lucky thing you have, to be taught and to be learning and not have to be working in a shop somewhere.

There are some mornings when I cry and cry and mourn for myself. Some mornings, I'm so angry and bitter. But it doesn't last too long. Then I get up and say, 'I want to live..' 'So far, I've been able to do it. Will I be able to continue? I don't know. But I'm betting on myself I will.' Koppel seemed extremely taken with Morrie. He asked about the humility that death induced.

Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and who love you." He squeezed my hand gently. I squeezed back harder. And like that carnival contest where you bang a hammer and watch the disk rise up the pole, I could almost see my body heat rise up Morrie's chest and neck into his cheeks and eyes. He smiled.

The culture doesn't encourage you to think about such things until you're about to die. We're so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks-- we're so involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we don't get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing?

The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.

Forgive yourself ... Then use this grace to spread my spirit