Morrie Schwartz's Life Lessons

A seminar series titled “The Last Lecture” took place at Carnegie Mellon University. Professors were prompted to deliver lectures as if it was their last, while containing a “message of a lifetime”. Professor Randy Pausch delivered his speech titled “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” as a part of this seminar on September 18th, 2007, a time in which had just been given life-threatening news. It had recently been estimated by doctors that this was the last three to six months of his life. Instead of speaking as if he was hypothetically dying like his fellow professors, Pausch was in an extremely ironic situation, as for in his case he really was dying, of pancreatic

Erin Geoffrey II, his father, a rich, prominent Brain Surgeon, married seven times. Devoted to long hours teaching students tarnished his marriages. Death do us part, was literally deleted in the wedding vows of his last three weddings. In addition temptation had caressed his dark side of life with flames of desire, want and need quite a lot, while the other side of his life demanded full attention with life-and-death decisions daily. Oh, don't get me wrong, Erin Geoffrey II was a grateful man who fought his way from poverty. The horrible disease of brain cancer had taken his mother to her death, dying at home in his arms; he was sixteen at the time. Erin's father was a truck driver, and he left 30 days after his wife’s death, never to return

To begin, the first aphorism that Morrie teaches Mitch is forgive yourself then forgive others.This aphorism means if you forgive yourself and then forgive others you could become a better person in life. Morrie told a story about how his old friend died of cancer. Morrie says,” Mitch… a few years ago… he died of cancer… I feel so

In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines demonstrates that in our society not all individuals are treated equally due to race or social standing. Society typically judges people by the color of their skin, which can lead to untrue beliefs or misperceptions about others.

There are a lot of different aphorisms in Tuesdays with Morrie. Like “Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.” Morrie means to show that people should accept that if they can do something they should do it and if they are not able to do something they should accept it. I can not relate to thin aphorism because when I can’t do something I try to find a way to do it no matter what. Another aphorism is " Learn to Forgive yourself and to forgive others." What Morrie means by this is you should forgive yourself for what you have done in the past and then you can forgive others to. I can relate to this aphorism because I have done things I wish I didn’t but i forgave myself and others. "Don't assume it's too late to get

Forgive today, live in peace tomorrow. Forgiveness; one of the many hardships we encounter throughout life. As Marianne Williamson, an American author, stated, “Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” Forgiveness leads to peace because it lets go of all the negative feelings and allows freedom from disturbance to take place.

In a society where hardships occur daily, it is vital to have something to hold on to as an anchor. This reliance or commitment is in the form of friends, family, or even tangible possessions; however, humans sometimes have to fulfill deeds for others instead of continually thinking of themselves. Given these obligations, there results both a need and a desire to complete certain tasks for other individuals, for a community, or even for a higher power. In his novel, A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest Gaines quite successfully portrays the theme of the importance of obligation and commitment through presenting an effective setting and community, constructing strong relationships between characters, and providing

The second aphorism is “ Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others.” This aphorism means that forgive yourself and others too. Morrie learned that if you do something wrong then forgive yourself and forgive others. I can relate to this because when I do something wrong i just try to forgive myself and pray to God and when my brother does something to me I just forgive

he AIDS hospice reeked from disease and neglect. On my first day there, after an hour of "training," I met Paul, a tall, emaciated, forty-year-old AIDS victim who was recovering from a stroke that had severely affected his speech. I took him to General Hospital for a long-overdue appointment. It had been weeks since he had been outside. After waiting for two and a half hours, he was called in and then needed to wait another two hours for his prescription. Hungry, I suggested we go and get some lunch. At first Paul resisted; he didn’t want to accept the lunch offer. Estranged from his family and seemingly ignored by his friends, he wasn’t used to anyone being kind to him — even though I was only talking about a Big Mac. When it arrived, Paul took his first bite. Suddenly, his face lit up with the biggest, most radiant smile. He was on top of the world because somebody bought him a hamburger. Amazing. So little bought so much. While elated that I had literally made Paul’s day, the neglect and emotional isolation from which he suffered disgusted me. This was a harsh side of medicine I had not seen before. Right then and there, I wondered, "Do I really want to go into medicine?"

It was another restless Friday afternoon in the small-town nursing home. Overworked nurses buzzed around, itching to start their weekend. “Ann,” a late-stage dementia patient, stared out her bedroom window. Her eyes focused on nothing in particular. As a hospice volunteer, I had been visiting Ann for three months. She spent our time together lost somewhere in her mind where I could never seem to reach her. I reminded Ann who I was and began one of our familiar conversation topics. As usual, she never spoke. As the visit went on, however, something changed. Ann slowly shifted her gaze toward me. I paused. She gently reached for my hand. Her hand felt weak, but her grip was firm. She looked into my eyes, and for a moment her face was clear with recognition. “You’re here,” she said. “…You are here.” She struggled to get out the words as she brought my hand to her face and kissed it. I was so touched I could not speak. For a moment, Ann connected with me. She trusted me. In that moment, I knew I had made the right choice.

She had ______ cancer. My uncle had stepped out for ten minutes to purchase some medicine from the pharmacist. Nancy thought she had a cold. As soon as he left, the doctor’s say, she fainted, and died. It was sudden. The news hit everyone hard. Her funeral was somber, and everyone wore black. Not one person uttered a word. Even so, I knew what everyone was thinking. How could someone who was so generous die at such an early age? I was thinking it too. How is life so unfair? If the one person that is truly constantly happy and giving just dies, what is that supposed to mean? Should we no longer be happy? Should we no longer give? I thought about Nancy’s life. How it meant nothing. She gave and gave, and still she was taken away. A single tear escaped from my eye. It froze, in the center of my cheek. I didn't wipe it

Forgiveness is not just practiced by saints and not only benefits its recipients but have strong connection with person’s physical, mental and spiritual health. It plays a great role in the health of families, communities and nations. Forgiveness provides common ground for love, acceptance, harmony and true happiness Most spiritual and religious leaders of the world will agree that forgiveness of oneself and others is one way to clear the mind, heart and soul and may result in a feeling of increased peace and happiness.

Morrie meant to be kind to others when he said those three things. When your forgive yourself and others you are being kind and he says that good things will come around to you if you do those three things. When he says to get involved and to do what you are able to do he means that you should try to do what you can he is saying that you should enjoy life before it’s over. He is also giving information them so if they are ever in the same shape he is that they will know what to do and how to live their life and he is even talking to the healthy people as well.

In an effort to share the “last class” he had with his college sociology professor, Mitch Album wrote, “Tuesdays with Morrie.” This moving account of the life lessons that Morrie taught him is a beautiful tribute to a man whose compassion and love for humanity made him a favorite among those who knew him. Though stricken with the debilitating disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and knowing death was swiftly approaching Morrie continued to help others until his body no longer allowed him to do so. Album uses time sequence, characterization and point of view to chronicle the experiences he had and the lessons he learned while visiting with his friend every Tuesday during that

Many people learn many things in many different ways. Most learn in school or church, some learn in asking questions, but I believe the best lessons are taught from a good friend. Tuesdays With Morrie is a true story of the remarkable lessons taught by a dying professor, Morrie Schwartz, to his pupil, Mitch Albom. Morrie teaches Mitch the lessons of life, lessons such as death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, and a meaningful life. This is a story of a special bond of friendship that was lost for many years, but never forgotten and simply picked up again at a crucial time of both Morrie's and Mitch's lives.