Students' Favorite Quotes

Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it. page 18 Wes

Love wins, love always wins.  page 40 Wes

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and let it come in.  page 52 Wes.

To know you're going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time page 81 Wes.

Learn how to die and you learn how to live.  Josh L.

Death should not be embarrassing
page 21 Ruth

Study me in my slow and patient demise. Watch what happens to me. learn with me.
Ruth page 10

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.
page 43 Josh B.

I am not bothered by the silence. For all the noise I make with my friends, I am still not comfortable talking about my feelings in front of others - especially classmates.  I culd sit in the quiet for hours if that is what the class demanded
p. 54 para 1 Josh B.

"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 trust them, too -  even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling."
page 61 Josh B.

Shouldn't the world stop? Don't they know what has happened tro me?
Page 8 Jenna

Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my life?
Page 10 Jenna

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to creating something that gives your purpose and meaning.
Page 43 Jenna

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and let it come in.
Page 52 Jenna

 I think in the light of what we've been talking about, all these weeks, family becomes even more important.
Page 91 Jenna

He was intent on providing the word "dying" was not a synonym with "useless."
page 12 Stephen B.

I may be dying but I am surrounded by loving, caring souls. How many people can say that?
page 36 Stephen B.

"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 trust them, too -  even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling."
page 61 Stephen B.

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
Page 79 Stephen B.

Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.
Page 82 Stephen B.

The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves and you have to be strong enough to say if it doesn't work don't buy it.
Page 42 Danielle B.

Study me in my slow patient demise. Watch what happens to me. Learn with me. Danielle B.

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.
page 43 Danielle B.

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel.
Page 61 Danielle B.

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
Page 79 Danielle B.

My friends, I assume you are all here for the Social Psychology class.  I have been teaching this course for twenty years, and this is the first time I can say there is a risk in taking it because I have a fatal illness. I may not live to finish the semester.
Page 9 Jill

"Coach," he says. "Alright, I'll be your coach. And you can be my player. You can play all the lovely parts of life that I'm too old for now."
Page 31 Jill

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
Page 52 Jill

Everybody knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it.
Page 80 Jill

I don't want to leave the world in a state of fright. I want to know what's happening , accept it, get to a peaceful place, and let go.
page 107 Jill

Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Don't wait, Mitch. Not everyone gets the time I'm getting. Not everyone is as lucky.
Page 167 Jill

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 honor, with composure.
Amber

Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.
Page 18 Meagan

Love wins. Love always wins.
Page 40 Meagan

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
Page 79 Meagan

Learn how to die, and you learn how to live.
Page 83 Meagan

I decided I'm going to live - or at least try to live - the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure.
Kelsey  Page 21

Are you trying to be as human as you can be?
Page 34 Kelsey

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.
Page 42 Stephen M.

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.
page 43 Stephen M.

A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.
Page 40 Stephen M.

Dying is only one things to be sad over, living unhappy is something else.
Debi

Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you, as I'm sitting here dying, when you need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have.  p. 125 Danielle G.

When the final moment came, Morrie wanted his loved ones around him, knowing what was happening. No one would get a phone call, or a telegram, or have to look through a glass window in some cold and foreign basement.
Page 140 Danielle G.

It's sad because a loved one is so important. You realize that, especially when you're in a time like I am, when you're not doing so well.  Friends are great, but friends are not going to be here on a night when you're coughing and can't sleep and someone has to sit up all night with you, comfort you, try to be helpful.
Page 148 Danielle B

People are only mean when they're threatened, and that's what our culture does. That what our economy does. Even people who have jobs in  our economy are threatened because they worry about losing them. and when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.
Page 154 Danielle G.

It's not just other people we need to forgive. We also need to forgive ourselves.
Page 166 Danielle G.

I had a terrible spell. It went on for hours. And I really wasn't sure I was going to make it. No breath. No end to the choking. At one point, I started to get dizzy...and then I felt a certain peace, I felt that I was ready to go.
Page 172 Danielle G

It was so simple. So average. I was actually a little disappointed.  I figured he'd fly to Italy or have lunch with the President or romp on the seashore or try every exotic thing he could think of. After all these months, lying there, unable to move a leg or a foot, how could he find perfection in such an average day?  Then I realized this was the point.
Page 176 Danielle G.

I blinked back the tears, and he smacked his lips together and raised   his eyebrows at the sign of my face.  I like to think it was a fleeting moment of satisfaction for my dear old professor: he had finally made me cry.
Page 186 Danielle G.

Shouldn't the world stop? Don't they know what has happened to me?
Page 8 Danielle G.

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 your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that give you a propose and meaning.
Page 43 Danielle G.

I was stunned at how easily things went on without me.
Page 45 Danielle G.

I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories I'm going to hear. On you - if it's Tuesday. Because we're Tuesday people.
Page  47 Danielle G.

"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.
Page 61 Danielle G.

Yes, but there is a better approach. To know you're going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time. That's better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you're living.
Page 81 Danielle G.

Yes, I look out that window everyday. I notice the change in the trees, how strong the wind is blowing. It's as if I can see time actually passing through that windowpane. Because I know my time is almost done. I am drawn to nature like I'm seeing it for the first time.
Danielle G. Page 84

When I give my time, when I can make someone smile after they were feeling sad, it's as close to healthy as I ever feel.
Page 128 Danielle B.

Love is how you stay alive even after you are gone.
Page 133 Danielle B.

People are only mean when they feel threatened.
Page 154 Danielle B.

We all have the same beginning - birth - and we all have the same ending - death. So how different can we be?
Page 157 Danielle B.

Each night when I go to sleep I die. And the enxt morning when I wake up, I am reborn.
Steve M.

I see your face in every flower, your eyes in stars above, it's just he thought of you, the thought of you, my love...
Steve M.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.
Steve M.

Then along  comes another wave.  It sees the first wave, looking grim, and it says to him, "Why do you look so sad?"
Steve M.

The young have very little understanding on life.
Page 118 Stephen B.

You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship.
Page 125 Stephen B.

Status will get you nowhere.
Page 127 Stephen B.

We're Tuesday people.
Page 169 Stephen B.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.
Page 174 Stephen B.

Take any emotion, love for a woman, or grief for a loved one, or what I'm going through, fear and pain from a deadly illness. If you hold back on the emotions if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through, then you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief, you're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails.
Amber

When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.
Amber

It's very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed twenty-two, you'd always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. 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.
Amber

The problem, Mitch, if that we don't believe we are as much alike as we are.  Whites and blacks, Catholics and Protestants, men and women. If we saw each other as more alike, we might be very eager to join in one bit human family in this world, and to care about that family the way we care about our own.
Amber

It's not contagious, you know. Death is as natural as life. It's part of the deal we made.
Amber

You are bringing him something. He looks forward to your visits. He talks about having to do this project with you, how he has to concentrate and put the time aside. I think it's giving him a good sense of purpose.
Page 110 Matthew

You know what the Buddhists say? Don't cling to things because everything is impermanent
Page 103 Matt

And this is where detachment comes in. If I die in the middle of a coughing spell like I just had, I need to be able to detach from the horror, I need to say, and "This is my moment."
Page 106 Matt B.

Forget what the culture says. I have ignored the culture much of my life.
Page 116 Kelsey

You re going to die eventually.
Page 119 Kelsey

Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.
Page 133 Kelsey

Don't let go too soon, but don't hang on too long.
Page 162 Kelsey

So you're one of them, too." "One of who." "MY jailers
Caitlin

We've got a form of brainwashing going on in our country.
Caitlin

 When you're in bed, you're dead.
Caitlin
 

  “You have to find what’s good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now. Looking back makes you competitive. And, age is not a competitive issue.”
Michelle Page 120

Fate succumbs many a species: One alone jeopardizes itself.
Michelle Page 122

 Morrie said to live a person must first learn how to die.  Live life the way you choose; don't let others live it for you. If you give it a chance (life) , the likelihood of acceptance is yours. Debi

“Each night when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”                           Mahatma Gandhi.
Page 129 Michelle

When you’re in bed, you’re dead.
Michelle Page 131

  “Make peace with living.”
Michelle Page 173

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”  
Michelle Page 174

“Study me in my slow and patient demise. Watch what happens to me. Learn with me.” Page 10 Michelle

           “Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.” “Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it;” Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others; “Don’t assume that it’s too late to get involved.”
 Page 18 Michelle

¨                  

¨                  “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.”
Page 42 Michelle

¨               “Once you learn how to die, you learn to live.”
Page 83 Michelle

BELOW ARE RESPONSES TO "WHAT WAS MORRIE'S MESSAGE TO YOU?  WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM READING TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE?"

The most important message that Morrie has to offer is make good relationships with friends and family.  He also doesn't think tangible items make your life complete.  Danielle

____

I believe the most important lessons learned in Tuesdays With Morrie were love and death. Morrie taught us how to live life to the fullest and that we shouldn't be afraid to die. Josh L.

While reading Morrie I learned to be happy with myself because if you're not, you will not be happy. Megan

 Deal positively with the cards that are dealt to you . By doing this, you help yourself as well as others.  Megan

The lesson Morrie taught me throughout the book were when you accept that you are going to die, it's then that you learn how to live, and never leave anything go unsaid because you may not get another chance, especially with forgiveness.
Amber

Two important messages are
(1) you must learn how to die before learning how to live, and
(2) that you have to forgive
Josh B.

The most important message Morrie gives to the world is to love all and love is the greatest gift. Even  when you die, love is what keeps you alive.  
Danielle B.

The  most important messages are  to not be afraid , to love, and to live.  Morrie told Mitch that society is scared of love and you shouldn't be afraid to love.
Jill

The two most important messages that Morrie has to give the world are that people should make the best of their lives, as well as love one another.  he says this because he believes  that life is beautiful, and each day should be cherished as it comes.
Jenna

The relationship with your family is important and you have to learn to love them. Because you are dying does not mean that you are dead. You continue to live in love.
Francisco

Live life to the fullest.
Death is not the end of the world.
It is never too late to talk with old friends.
Stephen B.

You need love in your life. Let love into your life before it's too late.
Kelsey

One of the messages is to live life to the fullest. And two - is don't be ashamed of dying; it's a part of life.   Ruth

The two most important messages that Morrie gives to the world is that no matter what - love always wins and just because someone dies, it doesn't mean that love is dead. That is why you must tell people you love them before you die. 
Shane

I feel the most important messages given by Morrie are live life to the fullest and don't be afraid to die. 
Matt

The most important messages that Morrie provides are
(1) to not take life for granted because you only get one chance at it and
(2) to take advantage of every opportunity you see. Wes.

"As a nurse, I can say that the place between a man and his recovery is hallowed territory, and to be invited there is an honor.  ...The simple act of wishing him well becomes a great and powerful gift."  Ann Branchini  10/30/2003