Saturday, June 13, 2009

Tuesday’s with Morrie

There are books you read to kill time. And there are books you are glad you read, before time kills you!

Tuesday’s with Morrie, makes way to the latter league.

I don’t remember when was the last time something had such a profound effect on me? I was prompted to tears while going through the last few pages (Yes..freaking out a bunch of passengers in an extremely crowded bus, who were more rattled by my unembarrassed crying than probabably I was!!!)

Not just a couple of pages fastened together; it’s an anthology of life, death and all that happens to you in between.

The beauty of the read is just the simplicity of it, be it portrayal of something as poignant as death or as never ceasing as life. By the time you reach the end of the book you (I) realise that you have practically spent almost all your life beneath a false veneer of making a rational judgement - chasing and doing the things you wrongly thought were important!

Those on a literary diet, trust me , one needs to be chastised on missing out on this. It is a semi-mandatory read! Alright, I might go on and on, but any description might not do justice. Just read the book.

And for the starters I am passing my favourite excerpts. Intended readers, skew away, might be a spoiler!

"Love or Perish."

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

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in."

"If you hold back on the emotions..if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them.. you're too busy being afraid."

"We...need to forgive ourselves...For all the things we didn't do. All the things we should have done. You can't get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened."

"In the beginning of life, when we were infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right? But here's the secret: in between, we need others as well."

"You have to find what's good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now. Looking back makes you competitive. And, age is not a competitive issue."

"...if you're trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down on you anyhow. And if you're trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone."

"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it."

...there are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don't respect the other person, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can't talk openly about what goes on between you, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have a common set of values in life, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike."

"Aging is not just decay...It's growth."

"Death ends a life, not a relationship."

"...love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone."

"...we've had thirty-five years of friendship. You don't need speech or hearing to feel that."

“You see, . . . you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too — even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling…"

P.S: BTW almost half of my copy is bookmarked :)

6 comments:

Unknown said...

i shud ve paid more attention to the already bold spoiler alert..!!

Arpita said...

Hahahahaha..
Doesn't matter, I only divulged the quotes. The real essence of them lies in where they are placed in the book. ..
BTW shows that you don't go too well with reading, kinda read over the lines :D

Unknown said...

completely agree overlookn has been a fundamental characteristic or feature, depending on the situation..!! :D

Elamparithi Jayamani said...

yea ...A truely remarakable book for mankind...i liked the movie too..its moving

Arpita said...

@Harish
Other people master the art well too..so gotta beware!

Arpita said...

@Elamparithi
I haven't seen the movie, but the book is fab :) BTW are you done with your PhD already?