Tuesday With Morrie – Book, Summary, Notes & Highlights
This book helped me understand what truly matters in life, and it’s not money.
🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
- Death is not to be fear.
- This life is not all that matters.
- If you chase materialistic things, you will die unhappy.
🎨 Impressions
Tuesday with Morrie is a perfect book to cry, haha, and also to look at life differently, finding out what truly matters in life.
🧭 How I Discovered It
I discovered this book by first watching the movie, I cried in the movie, and yes, I also cried reading this book.
👤 Who Should Read It?
Everyone, it’s a MUST read. It’s no lie that the best advices come from elderly people, but now add to it an elderly man near death.
☘️ How the Book Changed Me
- As a young adult, we sometime fall into the trap of chasing materialistic things, but this book shows you what truly matters in life.
- In knowing that I will die, too often we lived a life as if we will never die, and later in life death catches us by surprise.
- I’ve started to treat my family differently, being more patient, knowing that they too could die at any moment.
✍️ My Top 3 Quotes
- Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it
- The way you give meaning to 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
- Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live
📒 Summary + Notes
1. Syllabus
Morrie was a great person with big ears, big smile, and short. Morrie decided once he knew he had ALS that his last few years-days, won’t be a depressive time, rather a joyful last few days. He wanted to show the world that death doesn’t necessarily have to be something sad but rather someone joyful. He went to a friends funeral and he said “ what a waist, all those people saying all those wonderful things and my friend never got the chance to hear them”, so he decided to have what he called living-funeral. Living-funeral was a funeral but the dead person being alive, and being able to hear all the wonderful things people say about him in his funeral.
2. The Student
Mitch after college, tried to become a musician, but nothing seem to go his way. He also did not keep his promise of staying in touch with Morrie.
After Mitch’s uncle die, he open his eyes and came to the conclusion that he can’t keep waisting his life, because one day just like his uncle, death will catch him. So he went into sport writer career, he started to make more money, bought his first home, got married, and started to come out in the TV regularly. Morrie came into his mind a few time here and there, but never to the point of contacting him.
3. The Audiovisual
A friend of Morrie talk to one of his friends about Morrie, and the friend told another friend which then told Koppel. Koppel took a flight to meet wit Morrie, they talk and talk, about life, religion, death, and the afterlife. Mitch back in his home heard “who is Morrie Schwartz” while switching channels and he went numb.
4. The Orientation
Mitch finally, after finishing his call, met with Morrie. Morris welcomed him with open arms. Mitch mentions how he use to call Morrie, Coach.
5. The Classroom
Morrie and Mitch catch up, Morrie is letting Mitch know how he will die. He is also asking Mitch about his life, and deeper questions like, “are you at peace with yourself?”. After a while of them talking Mitch had to leave and he promised Morrie that he would be back, not trying to remember the last time he said that (he never came back to visit him -in the past).
6. Taking Attendance
Mitch went back to work, he travel to London to cover a sporting event. But he kept thinking about Morrie, and how society now in days waists much of its time on insignificant stuff, like keeping up with some famous personal drama and so on, while Morrie on the other hand was enjoying his last few days in this world. Taking advantage of the last few days he had by spending time with his loved ones. This thought hit Mitch, and he for the first time notice how bad he was living. He also lost his job and he came to find out that the world didn’t need him.
7. The first Tuesday we talk about the world
Mitch came back to visit Morrie, the day was Tuesday. He brought with him some food, and Morrie said to him “ah, so much food. Well. Now you have to eat with me.” Both of them started to talk about the world, Mitch told him why he still kept reading the newspaper, and Morrie said that now more than ever feel compassion for all the people who are suffering, and how he cry’s more often. Morrie told Mitch before he left the following “Let it come in. 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.”
8. The second Tuesday we talk about feeling sorry for yourself
Mitch asks Morrie if he ever feels sorry for himself, Morrie say that he does. That he also cries almost every day in the morning, but after a few tears he says to himself, “enough with this self-pity” and that’s it, he gets his head up and keeps living his life. Mitch help Morrie for the first time by lifting him up.
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.
9. The Third Tuesday we talk about regrets
Mitch went back and this time he brought with him a tape recorder to record everything. At first he taught he was making Morrie uncomfortable so he decided to put it away, but Morrie told him not told, because he wanted to tell him about his life. Mitch decided that he was going to be the best student so he made a list of all the topics he wanted to speak about with Morrie.
10. The Audiovisual, Part Two
The first show with Morrie was such a success that Koppel and his crew came again. Morris told him how he knew everything was going downhill. Then he started to read a letter he sent to teacher who had nine students who lost their parents. Then he started to talk about his death mother and he said the following “ I wish I’d had a group like yours where I would have been able to talk about my sorrows. I would have joined your group because” his voice cracked “because I was so lonely”.
11. The Professor
When Morrie was eight years old, he had to break the news to his father that his mother had passed away. Since his father didn’t know English, Morrie had to read the letter to him. His father never showed him any affection, but thankfully Rose, his new stepmother, was so loving toward him and his little brother Charlie. They were really poor and Morrie would sell magazines to help his father, some days the only thing they would eat was bread. When Morrie grew older he had to work with his father in a fur factory, Morrie hated that place that he told himself he would never again work in a place where the exploited people.
12. The Fourth Tuesday we talk about death
Morrie and Mitch talk about death and Morrie said the following
Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.
Morrie started saying to Mitch how the society now act like if their sleepwalking, doing things automatically without actually stopping and seeing what truly matters in this world. Morrie said to Mitch how he like the Buddhist always imagines a bird asking in his shoulder “Is today the day, your last day”. He told Mitch how he can tell he doesn’t think about death as much, because if he did he would not be as ambitious. Morrie with his friends and family was answering letters from people that had seen him in TV.
13. The Fifth Tuesday we talk about family
Morrie emphasized the importance of cultivating strong relationships with family members and cherishing the time spent together. Morrie discussed the impact of modern society on family dynamics and encouraged the reader to prioritize meaningful connections over material possessions. Through their conversation, Morrie conveyed the profound influence that family can have on one’s happiness and well-being.
14. The six Tuesday we talk about Emotions
Mitch went to see Morrie again and he took the regular supply of food, but this time Charlotte greeted him, Morrie’s wife, telling him that Morrie was not 100%. Mitch found out that Morrie never ate the food he would bring him.
Morrie told Mitch that he has to detach from the emotions. Fear, anxiety, loneliness, accept all those so next time you’re more willing to go through them and overcome them.
Morrie, said “I want to die serenely and peacefully”
15. The professor, part two Morrie
Morrie first job was at a mental hospital. Morrie was shock watching all those patients and all the things they did such a spitting, a women sitting on the hall for hours. Morrie notice that the majority of these patients what they needed was somebody to notice them, somebody to love them, and he also learned from this situation that the majority of them had money, but they still were there suffering. He took note of this, and he knew that money wasn’t going to make him happy.
16. The seventh Tuesday We talk about the fear of aging
Morrie was now being help by the other people to wipe his private parts. Morrie first was ashamed, but later he learned to love this, to fill dependent on somebody else. The human touch, when they care for him, when they massage his feet, he love all of this.
Mitch and Morrie started to talk about aging. Morrie when embrace aging because as he grow, he learn more. Mitch told them if aging is so good, then why people always say “oh I wish I was younger again” Morrie reply “that shows unfulfilled life‘s, unsatisfied life‘s, life‘s that haven’t found meaning”
Mitch ask him if he envy younger people, Morrie reply saying that he does for things like dancing swimming, but especially dancing. Morrie also said the following
How can I be envious of where you are (age) if I been there myself
17. The eight Tuesday We talk about money
Morrie mention how money is just a fake pleasure. It won’t truly bring you happiness, what will, 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.
18. The Ninth Tuesday We talk about how Love Goes On
Mitch and Morrie showcase the love for each other in this chapter, Mitch not liking when morrie taliks about his own death.
Morrie also talks about the death of his dad, and how he didnt wanted the same for his children, to get news of his father death without them being close.
19. The Tenth Tuesday We talk about Marriage
Mitch bring his wife to Morrie, and his wife sings a song for him which brings him to tears.
Morrie talks about marriage and how it brings him sadness how in today society many people are not prone to getting marry and if they do they get divorced after some time.
Morrie says that what matters in a marriage in order to lasts is mutual respect, learning to compromise oneself for the other, having great communication, and lastly to have similar values and beliefs.
20. The Eleventh Tuesday we talked about our culture
Mitch started to help the nurses with Morrie. Morrie mentioned how in today society everyone chases the wrong things, money, riches, and etc.
Mitch started questioning how people put a lot of emphasis in their body, working out a lot, for why if at the end their body will be fragile and weak as Morris’s.
22. The Audiovisual part three
Koppel went for the last time to visit Morrie, Maury was too weak, and he couldn’t even laugh at the jokes Koppel did. Koppel really had feelings for Morrie. This whole Audiovisual was more like a goodbye. At the end, Morrie mentioned something about God and is the first time Mitch hears Morrie say that he talks/pray to God.
23. The 12th Tuesday we talk about forgiveness.
Morrie talks about forgiveness and sees that it is extremely important in today’s society to forgive others but especially to forgive yourself. Forgive what you didn’t do, forgive what you could’ve done. Morrie sees that he regrets, not forgiving one of his friends. He was prideful he couldn’t forgive, and a few years back his friend died, and it hurt Morrie deeply. He started crying. Morrie tell Mitch that if he could’ve had another son, he would’ve like it to be Mitch.
24. The 13th Tuesday we talk about the perfect day.
The perfect day for morrie was waking up, exercising, having a lovely breakfast of sweet rolls and tea, swim, then his friends coming over for lunch, a walk in a garden, evening going out to a restaurant, and dancing all night long.
25. The fourteenth Tuesday we say Good-bye
In this last Tuesday Mitch knew Morrie was in a bad state, once Mitch enter the room he know is that Morrie was in a really bad state. Morrie grab Mitch’s hand and brought it to his heart. Mitch told him he didn’t know how to say goodbye, the Morrie said the following
This……is how we say…….goodbye……Love……you
Morrie
26. Graduation
Morrie died on a Saturday morning, his sons were able to say their goodbyes. His funeral was on a Tuesday and Mitch remember what Morrie said, “you talk, I’ll listen”
