Quotes from Mitch Albom

All parents damage their children. This was their life together. Neglect. Violence. Silence. And now, someplace beyond death, Eddie slumped against a stainless steel wall and dropped into a snowbank, stung again by the denial of a man whose love, almost inexplicably, he still coveted, a man ignoring him, even in heaven. His father. The damage done.

Dying," Morris suddenly said, "is only one thing to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappily is something else.

What do you do when you lose a loved one too quickly? When you have no time to prepare before, suddenly, that soul is gone?

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half asleep even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Kadang-kadang kita tak boleh percaya kepada yang kita lihat, kita harus percaya kepada yang kita rasakan. Dan jika ingin orang lain percaya kepada kita, kita harus merasa bahwa kita dapat mempercayai mereka juga--bahkan meskipun kita sedang dalam kegelapan. Bahkan ketika kita sedang terjatuh.

My father moved through theys of we, singing each new leaf out of each tree (and every child was sure that spring danced when she heard my father sing) Ã¢â'¬Â¦Ã¢â'¬Â —A POEM BY E. E. CUMMINGS, READ BY MORRIE'S SON, ROB, AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE

meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Do you believe in reincarnation? I ask. Perhaps. What would you come back as? If I had my chance, a gazelle. A gazelle? Yes, so graceful. So fast. A gazelle? Morrie smiled at me. You think that's strange? I study his shrunken frame, the loose clothes, the socks wrapped feet that rest stiffly on rubber cushions, unable to move, like a prisoner in leg irons. I picture a gazelle racing across the desert. No, I say. I don't think that's strange at all.

That was the end of his driving.. That was the end of his walking free.. That was the end of his privacy.. And that was the end of his secret.

The last class of my old professor's life took place once a week, in his home, by a window in his study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink flowers.

Auden said, 'Love each other or perish.' 

The class met on Tuesdays. No books were required. The subject was the meaning of life. It was taught from experience. The teaching goes on.

If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children.

Of course, there were a million self-help books on these subjects, and plenty of cable TV shows, and $9 per-hour consultation sessions. America had become a Persian bazaar of self-help.

Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left? he had

what I call your 'spiritual security'—knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that.

People are only mean when they're threatened

when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.

Little wonder that when they sat with him, there was a waterfall of affection, lots of kisses and jokes and crouching by the side of the bed, holding hands.

Giving is living.

The little things, I can obey. But the big things—how we think, what we value—those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone—or any society—determine those for you.

I believe in being fully present.

Praise for Tuesdays with Morrie

This is the response: That you spent your days giving. Of your time. Of your heart. Of yourself. That's how you live on, for a day, or, through others, generations.