November 22, 2008

"tuesdays with morrie"---a must read!!


I just finished reading 'tuesdays with morrie'
its an amazing book by mitch albom....and one cant help but devour it in one stretch....
its a pageturner and yet its something which will remain with u throughtout ur life....each word pulls at ur heartstrings in sucha way that u never want to let go...and fair enough if u follow what 'morrie' has to say, u will always be happy in life :)
the book speaks about the the rekindled relationship of mitch albom with his dying professor...the only person who can understand him perfectly...and just like he understands life....
its heartwrenching and ironical how this man has so little of life and yet understands it like noone can....his perspective leaves u in awe just like it left mitch....
'tuesdays with morrie' is one book i will always hold dear and i cant help wishing i had known atleast one person half as wise as him :)

here are a few lines from the book which left a deep impact on me----

"have i told u about the tension of opposites?"
the tension of opposites?
"life is a series of pulls back and forth...u want to do one thing but u are bound to do something else...something hurts you, yet u know it shouldent..u take certain things for granted, even when u know u should never take anything for granted.
A tension of opposites is like a pull on a rubber band and most of us live somewhere in the middle"
---------------------------

"sometimes in the mornings," he said "thats when i mourn..i feel aorund my body. i move my fingers and my hands what ever i can still move---and i mourn what ive lost..i mourn the slow incidious way in which im dying.but then i stop mourning"
just like that?
"i give myself a good cry if i need it.but then i concentrate all the good things still in my life.on the ppl who are coming to see me..on the stories im going to hear..on YOU-if its tuesday.because we are tuesday people.
"mitch i dont allow myself any more selfpity than that...a little each morning..a few tears..and thats all"
--------------------------------

"sometimes u cannot believe what u see..you have to believe what u feel..and if u ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that u can trust them to--even when u are in the dark...even when you are falling"
--------------------------------

"take any emotion--love for a woman or grief for a loved one or what im going through, fear and pain from a deadly disease. If you hold back on the emotion--if you dont allow yourself to go all the way through them---you can never get to being detached. you're too busy being afraid.you're afraid of the pain..afraid of the grief..afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails.
but by throwing yourself into this emotion, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. you know what pain i..you know what love is..you know what grief is..and only then can u say "all right, i have experienced that emotion..i recognise that emotion.now i need to detach from that emotion for a moment"
---------------------------------

"we all know how to be a child..its all inside of us..for me, its just rmeembering how to enjoy it.
the truth is when our mothers held us, rocked us, stroked our heads---none of us ever got enough of that.
we all yearn in some way to return to those days when we were completely taken care of--unconditional love, unconditional attention.
most of us dint get enough"
---------------------------------

(morrie on the topic of love)
"in business people negotiate to win.they negotiate to get what they want.maybe you're too used to that.
love is different.love is when you are as concerned about someone else's situation as you are about your own"
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(this is what morrie explains to mitch about the value of aging)(mitch): yes i said but if aging were so valuable , why do people always say "oh if i were young again"..u never hear ppl say "i wish i were 65"
He smiled "you know what that reflects?unsatisfied lives..unfulfilled lives..lives that havent found meaning..
because if uve found mreaning in your life, u dont want to go back.you want to go forward.you want to see more.do more.u you cant wait until sixty-five"
---------------------------------

(this is morrie's answer when questioned if he worried about being forgotten after he dies)
"i dont think i will be.ive got so many people who have been involved with me in close intimate ways.and love is how u stay alive even after you are gone"
---------------------------------

(morrie's views--on building a little subculture of your own)
"i dont mean u disregard every rule of your community.i dont go around naked for example, i dont run though red lights.The little things, i can obey.
But the big things--how we think,what we value--those you must choose yourself.you cant let anyone--or any society--determine those for you"
---------------------------------

(morrie's words---on forgiveness)
"its not just other people we need to forgive mitch" he whispered "we also need to forgive ourselves"
ourselves?
"yes.for all the things we dint do.all the things we should have done.u cant get stuck on the regrets of what shold have happened.that dosent help u when u get to where i am"
"i always wished i had done more with my work.i wished i had written more books.,i used to beat myself up over it.now i see that never did any good.make peace.u need to make peace with yourself and everyone around you"

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morrie brings a smile on your face inspte of all the pain he is living through and the best part about it is he dosent see the pain and at times even makes u envy him...everything he says makes soo much sense...
i finally understood what they mean when they say its your perspective that matters :)
i guess thats what 'tuesdays with morrie' was all about....
Mitch albom has put it across beautifully...and on reading the book i couldent help but fall in love with morrie :)
if u guys havent caught up on it yet, you are really missing out on something...its a read of a lifetime!

30 comments:

Rambler said...

this is one of my all time favorite books, and have read it many times over.

just love the conversations between Mitch and Morrie.

lukkydivz said...

wow i particularly loved what he said about old age :)

Prashanti :) said...

hey pri,
loved the tension of opposites.
Am sure going to look for this book!! Thanks!!

Faith Lasts said...

Oh thanks , have heard alot about it!

Now will surely get it today

alok said...

Looks like a nice book, and I am going to check it out after reading your blog….

Hey, there is something waiting for you :), come and pick it up from my blog.

Anonymous said...

Seems a nice book to inspire oneself!
Will try to get it soon.Thanks Pri:)

Karthik S said...

You just said it!!!

I'm reading that book now. Each day one topic...Really a very good book.

Cheers :-)

Pri said...

@ rambler
it sure goes in the list of my favs too :)
the conversations are amazing....

@ prashanti
yess the theory is damn true isnt it?
u MUST read it...a lot more things which are obviously stated and amazingly true :)

@ bhaw
ur most welcome...i'd heard about it too...but got hold of it only now...and im thankful i finally did :)

Pri said...

@ luckydivz
ul'l treasure it more as years go by...when ul'l be 65 :)

@ alok
yeps..do that :)
ok im coming right over to ur blog or else will die of curiosity :D

@ meera
absolutely girl!
and ur most welcome :)

@ karthik s
woww..im surprised u can lim it urself to just one topic a day...i couldent help reading it all in one stretch...im a real glut when it comes to books :)

Princess said...

will try finding the book and read it soon..

-Aiz

Anonymous said...

im a regular visitor of your blog and though i hardly comment, i never miss reading your post
your work easily reflects your passion to write...
i dont have a blog of my own but put in many hours to blogread but your blog has gotten me addicted.
my day begins and ends with nostalgic moments
"tuesdays with morrie" is my personal favorite and u will not believe how happy i am to share the same taste as you
today is the first time im commenting.but i thought i would let u know today :)

keep going!

Arv said...

Hi Pri...

This seems to be a good read... will add it to the thanksgiving shopping list :)

oh and thanks for playing Carrie Underwood... been a while since I heard her voice :)

Have a nice evening mate... cheers...

Richa said...

hey!!

i too love this book..
it is such a sweet thing the spirit of the teacher.. the will of living life till its last second is really inspiring :)

n have u read "the five people u meet in heave" by the sdame author?
if not yet, it is higle recommended..

Anonymous said...

Hey Pri,

An award for you on my blog ;) come check it :)

Pavi!!!! said...

Thanks for the recommendation Pri..Seems like a very interesting book and seems like its the apt book when one intends to do some soul-searching xcept it doesnt xactly tell u thats wat its intended for.. which is the Best part!:)
Am surely going to look for it in the stores.

For most of the snippets u have in ur post..i was nodding my head in agreement or in relization.
Wat he says about the age bit..is actually scary.we ALL tend to look back, n yearn to go back to those days..well im sure u wld agree most of do..does that mean most of us are unhappy with our current lives.. Very Very scary that is!

Pri said...

@ princess
ok...happy reading! :)

@ dave
thanks a lot...this means a lot to me...
comments are a way of acknowledgement...a kinda communication which feels a lot better than knowing that someone is just reading me and leaving silently...
ur opinion (alike or different) makes me feel its a two-way interaction and thats what a blog is about :)

but neverthless thankyou

Pri said...

@ arv
yes im sure it will serve as a good book to the self...
and 'hope u dance' is one of my all time favs from underwood...so the pleasure is all mine :)
have a nice day!

@ richa
no i havent read it yet..but will surely catch it now...thanks for recommending :)

@ sam
thanks for the award sam :)

@ pavi!!
///its the apt book when one intends to do some soul-searching xcept it doesnt xactly tell u thats wat its intended for.. which is the Best part!:)///
exactly..i normally dont like reading self help books...but this book is presented in an amazing way...i was floored! :)

///Wat he says about the age bit..is actually scary.we ALL tend to look back, n yearn to go back to those days..well im sure u wld agree most of do..does that mean most of us are unhappy with our current lives.. Very Very scary that is///
well but its equally true isnt it?
think about it...we find another age (which is usually long gone by) more satisfying than the present...we fear the future even though we know its inevitable...
we find more security in the past only because we know what its been like and it wouldent be a surprise...
had we been happier or more satisfied with our present, we probably would have been a lil more sure about the future...we would have looked forward to it :)
we wouldent have spent as much time basking in nostalgia...in something which has long gone by and will never come back...
it is scary no doubt but life is scary that way isnt it??

I'll try 2 be truthful said...

hey pri , I had read this book & had even written a post about it this October. It's a really nice book to say the least , i mean all those lil lessons of life packed in this small book, really great.

Cяystal said...

The tit-bits really sounded like it should be one of the most readable stuff..
Loved the lines
***"i give myself a good cry if i need it.but then i concentrate all the good things still in my life.on the ppl who are coming to see me..on the stories im going to hear..on YOU-if its tuesday.because we are tuesday people.



Cute temp..amd don't forget dropping by my blog sometime,lady. :)

Pri said...

@ il'l try to be truthful
u said it! :)
i would love to read that poem of urs...can u please leave me the link to that?
P.S: u know something, ur bloghandle 'il'l try to be truthful' always manages to make me smile :D

@ crystat
oh yes sure i will...a lil busy of late..but will catch up on you soon :)
thanks for visiting!

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan said...

i too read it during my mbbs days... a friend of mine had actually xeroxed it from the library .. but it was an awesome books.. no matter what anyone says, his other books dont have the same effect

Anonymous said...

I hereby sue you for copyrights violation.

But don't worry. The amount I am going to sue you for will be equal to the amount I will pay you for advertising my book.



On second thoughts, I'll not sue you and also not pay you for advertisement. Deal?

Pri said...

@ mitch albom
ummm...lemme see..il'l accpet the deal only if u publicise my book as much as i did urs (whenever and if ever i launch it ofcourse)ohh and speaking about copyrights, somebody could sue u for a very good reason at that---much better than the one u accused me with, mr albom! ;)
uve taken the liberty of going by the blog handle of one of the most prolific bloggers (stupidosaur) of recent times...
shame on you mr albom...morrie would be ashamed of ur lack of originality! :p
may the ranting reptile strike back in all its fury against you!! heehee

Anindita said...

I read this book about two years back and I have looked at life in a different way... It is one of the most touching books I have ever read... An absolute brilliant read!! :)

Stupidosaur said...

Little ranting reptile cant strike back at himself.

(That was my own prank. The link was meant to be a hint ;) )

//most prolific bloggers

!!!!!
wow!

Thank you!

Pri said...

@ stupidosaur
LOL!! u really thought i dint get that? ;)

Pri said...

@ anandita
yeps...totally agree...it goes straight into my personal favs list :)

Anonymous said...

Truely an amazing book. This book have inspired me in all the possible ways. The best part is that i was able to look at my life in a different, better way.

Stupidosaur said...

yeah yeah, now you can say anything you want eh ;)

IncorrigibleV said...

am definitely pickin this up whenever i can !