Tuesday 18 April 2006

Morrie Revisted ....

I recently re-read Tuesdays With Morrie. Some people think that the story - although true - is a little soppy. Or at least people think the message Morrie was trying to convey is soppy.

Well I think his wisdom is worth hearing and here are some of the aphorisms and advice he left us with ..

"A meaningful life will not be found in the next job or the next car. The way you get meaning in your life is to devote yourself to helping others and creating something that gives you purpose."

"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."

"Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently."

"Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, 'Is today the day [that I will die]? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?"

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

"In this culture it's so important to find a loving relationship with someone because so much of the culture does not give you that. 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 want in a partner. They don't know who they are themselves--so how can they know who they're marrying?"

"I decided what I wanted on my tombstone...A teacher to the last..."

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are 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 gives you purpose and meaning."

"Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others."

"... I embrace aging… It's very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at 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. "

"...There are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don't respect the other person, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can't talk openly about what goes on between you, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have a common set of values in life, you're gonna have a lot of trouble."

"Death ends a life, not a relationship."

No comments: