Tuesdays with Morrie

“The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”

“If you're trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down on you anyhow. And if you're trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. The status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.”


“We've got a sort of brainwashing going on in our country, Morrie sighed. Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it–and have it repeated to us–over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all of this, he has no perspective on what's really important anymore.Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of property. Gobble up the latest toy. And then they wanted to tell you about it. ‘Guess what I got? Guess what I got?'Do you know how I interpreted that? 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. I can tell you, as I'm sitting here dying when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have.”

“I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that's all.”

“Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward.”

This is by far the best book I've read in 2019. Right from the moment I started reading it on my Kindle, I had to like highlight almost every word in this book! So to start with, Tuesdays With Morrie is about a professor Morrie Schwartz and his student Mitch, who is the narrator throughout the book.
The story begins with Mitch graduating from college and then promising to stay in touch with Morrie, his favourite professor, whom he fondly referred to as “Coach”
Fast forward a few years and Mitch gets the taste of reality and life outside university doors. He gets busy in the hustle, working as a popular sports journalist, grinding away his days to make it big. Amidst all this, he almost forgets about his beloved professor Morrie and loses contact with him until one day when he spots Morrie on a television show ‘Nightline', where he's giving an interview about his life experiences. The twist here is that Morrie is diagnosed with ‘ALS' and has a very short amount of time left in this world.

Upon seeing this, Mitch is shocked and tries to reconnect with his old professor and eventually succeeds. What follows next is a series of meetings between Mitch and Morrie. They meet on Tuesdays and discuss life in general. Right from society and culture to relationships and death. Every Tuesday meeting is a life lesson from a mentor on his deathbed to his favourite student who's struggling with finding the purpose of his life and existence.

The book is so beautifully written that as a reader you're instantly pulled into Morrie's little world and his wholesome life experiences that he's willing to share. Every word that comes out of Morrie's mouth is pure gold! It's like I found a life guide and mentor in Morrie, through this book. This book is like blended whiskey on the rocks, as you start, you enjoy it gradually but by the time you finish it, you're hit with a wave of optimism and positivity!

Anyway, if I go on writing more, I would probably end up rewriting the entire book as a review here, so I'd conclude this here.
This book is a must read for everyone. In my opinion, it's one of those books that you can't afford to miss out on. Would strongly recommend it especially to young 20 something folks who're out of college and still trying to figure out their lives.

Yes, it is a very good book. Short and clear, it does make for a very enjoyable read. It approaches all the toughest part with a certain levity , such that the reader can absorb the message without being overwhelmed by emotions. It is a very fine line, but worked very well in the book. The only knock I have is that the author, every once in a while, it makes it too much about himself than about Morrie, but, in fairness, only in a small portion of the book. I keep the 5 ratings for books that really capture me and stay with me for a long time, and while this book didn't make it to 5 for me, it is a very solid 4, may 4,5.