Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left? Morrie Schwartz More Quotes by Morrie Schwartz More Quotes From Morrie Schwartz These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. There 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 no 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. Morrie Schwartz inspirational giving people We think we don't deserve love, we think if we let it in we'll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. He said." Love is the only rational act. Morrie Schwartz tuesdays-with-morrie wise love-is After you have wept and grieved for your physical losses, cherish the functions and the life you have left. Morrie Schwartz function cherish loss For me, living means I can be responsive to the other person. It means I can show my emotions and my feelings. Talk to them. Feel with them. Morrie Schwartz emotion feelings mean My contention is that as long as you have other faculties-the emotional, psychological, intuitive faculties-you haven't lost yourself or even diminished yourself. Don't be ashamed when you're physically limited or dysfunctional; don't think that you're any less because of your condition. In fact, I feel I am even more myself than I was before I got this illness because I have been able to transcend many of the psychological and emotional limitations I had before I developed ALS. Morrie Schwartz emotional health thinking Well, the truth is, if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time–then you might not be as ambitious as you are. Morrie Schwartz ambitious might bird It’s natural to die. The fact that we make such a big hullabaloo over it is all because we don’t see ourselves as part of nature. We think because we’re human we’re something above nature. Morrie Schwartz natural facts thinking If we can remember the feeling of love we once had, we can die without ever going away. Morrie Schwartz going-away feelings remember We put our values in the wrong things. And it leads to very disillusioned lives. Morrie Schwartz disillusioned wrong-things values Build a little community of those you love and who love you Morrie Schwartz community love-you littles The best way to deal with that is to live in a fully conscious, compassionate, loving way. Don't wait until you're on your deathbed to recognize that this is the only way to live. Morrie Schwartz way-to-live waiting reality Life is like a wrestling match- we struggle to fight but we never know that the only side that wins is the one with great love in it. Morrie Schwartz fighting struggle wrestling And, in addition to all the miseries, the young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you don't know what's going on? When people are manipulating you, telling you to buy this perfume and you'll be beautiful, or this pair of jeans and you'll be sexy-and you believe them! It's such nonsense. Morrie Schwartz sexy wise beautiful Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward. Morrie Schwartz live-by found want Once you learn how to die you learn how to live. Morrie Schwartz meaningful-death you-live-you-learn love Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others. Morrie Schwartz learn-to-forgive forgive-yourself forgiving Acceptance is not a talent you either have or don't have. It's a learned response. My meditation teacher made a great point about the difference between a reaction and a response: You may not have control over your initial reaction to something, but you can decide what your response will be. You don't have to be at the mercy of your emotions, and acceptance can be your first step toward empowerment . . . For me, acceptance has been the cornerstone to my having an emotionally healthy response to my illness. Morrie Schwartz differences acceptance teacher When you look at it that way, you can see how absurd it is that we individualize ourselves with our fences and hoarded possessions. Morrie Schwartz fence looks way Grieve and mourn for yourself not once or twice, but again and again. Morrie Schwartz again-and-again mourn grieving There is no experience like having children...If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children. Morrie Schwartz responsibility should-have children
