tuesdays with Morrie

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

"You see ... 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."

" ... All younger people should know something. If you're always battling against getting older, you're always going to be unhappy, because it will happen anyhow."

"Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overwhelmed with what comes back."

"Love is how you stay alive."

".. 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..."

"In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "But here's the secret: in between, we need others as well."

"It's not just other people we need to forgive, Mitch... We need to forgive ourselves... Yes. For all the things we didn't do. All the things we should have done. You can't get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened. That doesn't help you when you get to where I am."

"As long as we can love each other, and remember the feelings of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on--in the hears of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you where here."

"Love is different. Love is when you are as concerned about someone else's situation as you are about your own."

It is 1979, a basketball game in the Brandeis gym. The team is doing well, and the student section begins a chant, "We're number one! We're number one!" Morrie is sitting nearby. He is puzzled by the cheer. At one point, in the midst of "We're number one!" he rises and yells, "What's wrong with being number two?"

The students look at him. They stop chanting. He sits down, smiling and triumphant.

"Love each other or perish."

Love this book, I recommend it to everyone. 
It's also non-fiction.