Quotes from Mitch Albom

Don't cling to things, because everything is impermanent. - Buddhists say

The subject was the meaning of life. It was taught from experience. The teaching goes on.

If the only thing wrong with Moses is that he's not yours; if the only thing wrong with Jesus is that he's not yours; if the only thing wrong with mosques, Lent, chanting, Mecca, Buddha, confession, or reincarnation is that they're not yours - well, maybe the problem is you.

Love each other or perish, Morrie said. It's good, no? And it's so true. Without love, we are birds with broken wings

These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. They 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 not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness

We are 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?

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even

Love comes when you least expect it. Love comes when you most need it. Love comes when you are ready to receive it or can no longer deny it... Love comes when it comes.

A little wave is moving up and down and a big wave says to him why it looked so sad? The little wave says sadly what's the point of being happy when we're all just going to crash into the rock? The big wave then tells the little wave to not be so sad about that because it is not just a little wave, but a part of the ocean.

Suddenly it was terribly quiet, as if the earth itself were too stunned to breathe. I know this sound; silence is part of music. But just because something is silent doesn't mean you aren't hearing it. Frankie

La vida es una serie de tirones hacia atrás y hacia adelante. Quieres hacer una cosa pero estás obligado hacer otra diferente. Algo te hace daño, pero tú sabes que no debería hacértelo. Das por supuestas ciertas cosas, aunque sabes que no deberías dar nada por supuesto. Es una tensión de opuestos, como una goma elástica estirada. Y la mayoría de nosotros vive en un punto intermedio.

But there still seemed to be no clear answers. Do you take care of others or take care of your inner child? Return to traditional values or reject tradition as useless? Seek success or seek simplicity? Just Say No or Just Do It?

You see," he says to the girl, "you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too—even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling.

I think," he says, smiling, "God overdid it.

At seventy-eight, he was giving as an adult and taking as a child.

there is no such thing as "too late" in life. He was changing until the day he said good-bye.

Had it not been for Nightline, Morrie would have died without ever seeing me again. I had no good excuse for this, except the one that everyone these days seems to have. I had become too wrapped up in the siren song of my life. I was busy.

I remembered what Morrie said during our visit: 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.

It's more than the negative that you're going to die, it's also the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.

I envy them being able to go to the health club, or go for a swim. Or dance. Mostly for dancing. But envy comes to me, I feel it, and then I let it go. Remember what I said about detachment? Let it go. Tell yourself, 'That's envy, I'm going to separate from it now.' And walk away.

When Morrie was with you, he was really with you. He looked you straight in the eye, and he listened as if you were the only person in the world. How much better would people get along if their first encounter each day were like this—instead of a grumble from a waitress or a bus driver or a boss?

Anyone who has sat through that slice of time, when you don't know something awful and then you do, will confirm that it is literally a bend in your life, and what is critical is what you choose next; because you can view a diagnosis many ways—as a curse, a challenge, a resignation, a test from God.

Be compassionate," Morrie whispered. "And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place.

They gave up days and weeks of their lives, addicted to someone else's drama