the wisdom of Morrie Schwartz
i know this is alot to read.... but its def worth reading............
"Love eachother or perish"- W.H. Auden
"everyone knows we're going to die, but noone actually believes it. If we did, we'd do things alot differently...... The truth is, once you learn to die, you learn to live"
"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. Like their sleep-walking. Because they are busy doing things they think are important. That is because they are chasing the wrong things. THE WAY YOU GET MEANING IN LIFE IS TO DEVOTE YOURSELF TO LOVING OTHERS, DEVOTE YOURSELF TO YOUR COMMUNITY AROUND YOU, AND DEVOTE YOURSELF TO SOMETHING THAT GIVES YOU PURPOSE. notice there is nothing about salary"
"the most important thing in life is to give out love, and let it come in. 'LOVE IS THE ONLY RATIONAL ACT"
"its what everyone worries about isnt it? 'what if today were my last day on earth?'.
our culture doesnt encourage you to think about this until your about to die. we're too wrapped up in egotistical things... carreer, paying the mortgage, new cars, fixing the radiator when it breaks. We're involved in a trillion little events that get us through the day. So we dont get in the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying 'is this all?" "can there be more?"
"what i call your 'spiritual security'- knowing that your family will always be watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. not money. not fame."
"and- in addition to the miseries- the young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you dont know whats really going on? When people are manipulating you, telling you to buy this perfume and you'll be beautiful. or buy these jeans and you'll be sexy. And they actually believe it! Its such nonsense."
"all younger people should know something. If your always battling against getting older, you'll always be unhappy. because its going to happen reguardless."
Our culture brainwashes people. They say more money is good. more property is good. more is good. The average person is so fogged up by this, they forget whats really important in life. Everywhere you go people are showing off what new toys they got. 'guess what i got?' These people are so hungry for love they seek substitutes.......
....."Money is not a substitute for love, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you as Im sitting here dieing, when you most need it, niether money or power will give you the feeling your looking for, no matter how much you have.......
.....the truth is, you dont get satisfaction from these things. You know what gives you satisfaction in life? Offering others what you have to give. I dont mean money, i mean your time, a skill you have, a story to tell. This is how you start to get respect, by offering something you have to give."
"the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. You have to be strong enough to say 'if the culture doesnt work for you, dont buy it'. you have to create your own."
"if you're trying to show off for the people at the top, dont bother. they'll look down on you anyways. If youre trying to show off for the people on the bottom, dont bother. theyll only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will let you float equally between everyone."
"there are a few rules i know to be true about love and marriage:
if you dont respect the other person, your gonna have trouble.
if you dont know how to compromise, your gonna have trouble.
if you cant talk openly about whats going on between you, your gonna have trouble.
and if you dont have common set of values in life, your gonna have trouble.
the most important, your belief in the importance of your marriage"
i heard a nice story the other day. its about a wave.
this wave is bobbling along, enjoying the breeze and the sunshine. Then he sees the waves ahead crashing into the shore. 'this is horrible' he says.
The wave behind him asks whats wrong.
'you dont understand... look ahead, we're going to crash, and be nothing afterwards.'
the second wave says 'no, YOU dont understand. youre not really a wave anyways. your just a part of the ocean.'
"i picked the place i wanna be burried. its on a hill, under a tree. overlooking a calm pond. a great place to think."
"just a part of the ocean......"
RIP
"Love eachother or perish"- W.H. Auden
"everyone knows we're going to die, but noone actually believes it. If we did, we'd do things alot differently...... The truth is, once you learn to die, you learn to live"
"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. Like their sleep-walking. Because they are busy doing things they think are important. That is because they are chasing the wrong things. THE WAY YOU GET MEANING IN LIFE IS TO DEVOTE YOURSELF TO LOVING OTHERS, DEVOTE YOURSELF TO YOUR COMMUNITY AROUND YOU, AND DEVOTE YOURSELF TO SOMETHING THAT GIVES YOU PURPOSE. notice there is nothing about salary"
"the most important thing in life is to give out love, and let it come in. 'LOVE IS THE ONLY RATIONAL ACT"
"its what everyone worries about isnt it? 'what if today were my last day on earth?'.
our culture doesnt encourage you to think about this until your about to die. we're too wrapped up in egotistical things... carreer, paying the mortgage, new cars, fixing the radiator when it breaks. We're involved in a trillion little events that get us through the day. So we dont get in the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying 'is this all?" "can there be more?"
"what i call your 'spiritual security'- knowing that your family will always be watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. not money. not fame."
"and- in addition to the miseries- the young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you dont know whats really going on? When people are manipulating you, telling you to buy this perfume and you'll be beautiful. or buy these jeans and you'll be sexy. And they actually believe it! Its such nonsense."
"all younger people should know something. If your always battling against getting older, you'll always be unhappy. because its going to happen reguardless."
Our culture brainwashes people. They say more money is good. more property is good. more is good. The average person is so fogged up by this, they forget whats really important in life. Everywhere you go people are showing off what new toys they got. 'guess what i got?' These people are so hungry for love they seek substitutes.......
....."Money is not a substitute for love, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you as Im sitting here dieing, when you most need it, niether money or power will give you the feeling your looking for, no matter how much you have.......
.....the truth is, you dont get satisfaction from these things. You know what gives you satisfaction in life? Offering others what you have to give. I dont mean money, i mean your time, a skill you have, a story to tell. This is how you start to get respect, by offering something you have to give."
"the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. You have to be strong enough to say 'if the culture doesnt work for you, dont buy it'. you have to create your own."
"if you're trying to show off for the people at the top, dont bother. they'll look down on you anyways. If youre trying to show off for the people on the bottom, dont bother. theyll only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will let you float equally between everyone."
"there are a few rules i know to be true about love and marriage:
if you dont respect the other person, your gonna have trouble.
if you dont know how to compromise, your gonna have trouble.
if you cant talk openly about whats going on between you, your gonna have trouble.
and if you dont have common set of values in life, your gonna have trouble.
the most important, your belief in the importance of your marriage"
i heard a nice story the other day. its about a wave.
this wave is bobbling along, enjoying the breeze and the sunshine. Then he sees the waves ahead crashing into the shore. 'this is horrible' he says.
The wave behind him asks whats wrong.
'you dont understand... look ahead, we're going to crash, and be nothing afterwards.'
the second wave says 'no, YOU dont understand. youre not really a wave anyways. your just a part of the ocean.'
"i picked the place i wanna be burried. its on a hill, under a tree. overlooking a calm pond. a great place to think."
"just a part of the ocean......"
RIP