"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

Love is the most potent power of all. We should make the best of our short time on earth. Believe in yourself above all others.

These sentiments, as expressed in Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, are little paperback philosophies our generation wants nothing but to hear and believe in. To deny or discredit them may seem outlandish to most people. They've been retold in every form, whether it's in the form of book, song, religious teaching, or just flat-out statement. Albom's account of his last visits and "classes" with his old sociology professor offers no novel ideas or newfound philosophy. But Albom gives these teachings a face: that of Morrie Schwartz, an old man suffering from the incurable, degenerative disease of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The generation in its youth today, and of nearly any modern age, recognizes these lessons of his as truth, but continually ignores them when it comes to their application. Morrie, however, is aware that he is dying, and finds these lessons much more important to him. And while his teachings are often just a matter of common sense, it can be very difficult for young people to take them into their live wholly. This helps to explain a common theme within this book. The relationship between death and life is that in one's final moments of life, one can begin to realize what essential aspects and actions proved significance in their life. Morrie can do this easily, knowledgeable of his impending death, while these teachings are difficult for others to get a grasp on. It seems that as we do with many other things such as algebraic formulas or a lesson on American government, my younger generation only sees these philosophies as facts and quotes to be memorized, rather than applicable inspiration.

Love is the most essential emotion; as stated by Morrie, "Love or perish." "Love is how you stay alive, even when you're dead." Essentially acceptable, this explains that marriage is not only a job or a relationship, but a learning experience. "You find out who you are, who the other person is, and how you accommodate or don't." (p. 149) There is a part in the book where Morrie explained his resentment for how the younger generation (Mitch's generation) doesn't these concepts of his in full. This seems to be the case for any young generation. We can take in valuable information such as Morrie's lessons on life, but only see them as fact, rather than action. Morrie believes that modern society prefers to pretend personal feelings don't matter, or don't even exist. He believes that we all seem to have more (seemingly) "important" things to attend to, such as careers, staying busy, finances, etc. "People haven't found meaning in their lives," Morrie says, ⌠so they're running around all the time looking for it." (p. 136) He goes on to explain that things such as money and occupational status don't matter so much in the great scheme of life. ⌠We put our values in the wrong things." (p. 123) In other words, we should make better priorities in our lives, as to result in a greater overall feeling of a fulfilled life. Morrie suggests that these priorities take the shake of caring and compassion, rather than things otherwise measured materialistically. "Sometimes you cannot believe what you see; you have to believe what you feel," Morrie states. "And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too -- even when you are in the dark. Even when you're falling." (p. 61) Believing in what you see, such as physical and material value of things, does not have the same importance as believing in the mental and the emotional support of those around you, hence, why relationships are so important. This also explains why staying positive, rather than having a pessimistic, "blow-off" attitude, is so very important.

Many people would suggest that we are living today in a very negative society. However, as much as I'd agree that culture doesn't exactly provide a very upbeat reinforcement for society, I'd have to slightly disagree. I believe that it's not negativity that our popular culture condones today, but apathy to our own basic needs. "So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important," Morrie states. "This is because they're chasing the wrong things." (p. 143) As stated in the above paragraph, one of Morrie's personal philosophies is that the most important thing in life is to loved and be loved. However, "the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves," he states on page 42. This is what I believe to be another obvious conflict in Tuesdays with Morrie: intrinsic, natural values and feeling versus cultural influence in an apathetic society. When Mitch finally finds it necessary to visit his old professor Morrie is when the influence and pressure that the media and his society is weighing down on him overpowers the virtues he used to hold very dear to himself. "Mitch, I embrace aging." (p. 118) This quote from Morrie to Mitch clearly explains the lack of fears and worries Morrie has, as opposed to the young Mitch.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a great example of how maturity and age always go hand in hand, no matter the situation. "The young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life," says Morrie (p. 118). He also states that "if you've found meaning in your life, you won't want to go back." These are two conflicting scenarios that make a person decide on what they're going to make of themselves. On the one hand, a person may be young, and have that very small amount of understanding, which prevents them from making the greatest decisions in how to govern their life. On the other, an older person may regret the decisions they made in their early years.

Despite the virtues and true, good-hearted background this book may have, it can still be easily determined that the overall message and morals in this story can be easily deciphered and comprehended by a five year old child. It may prove mildly entertaining for those who want to reinforce their exuberant views on life, this is true. Also, Morrie Schwartz was a very unique, and good-natured soul. However, for many, such as myself, it's a wonder how a book stating (in a very lackluster writing style, might I add) such common sense could sell millions of copies, only going to show the very point of this essay.