Morrie Schwartz

"The culture didn't encourage you to think about dying."

"You're afraid of the wrong things."

"I believe in being completely honest, that's what I always have done."

"We've got a form of brainwashing going on in our country."

"Accept what has happened is past. Do not repeat it in the future."

"A little bird doesn't have to think about how to build a nest. It just does it."

"Because I am here, and I am dying, I am more alive than I have ever been."

"Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow."

"When you come to visit, we don't have to go anywhere or do anything."

"I wanted to be remembered. That was my only real desire."

"Your school gives you the thing, but your happiness doesn't come from that."

"We're all going to die, and we're all terrified of it."

"Mitch, you're not being very Buddhist about this."

"The little bird doesn't ask how it should fly."

"Have you ever really listened to someone? I mean really listened?"

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

"Money is not a substitute for tenderness and working in the garden is not a substitute for tenderness."

"I think of myself now as a teacher in my final class."

"I don't think I'm afraid of dying anymore, Mitch."

"Don't wait for the end of the year. Don't wait for any day but today."

"Most people walk around as if they are sleepwalking."

"That's what I want to leave behind. Morrie's lessons, not Morrie."

"Life is about making an impact on people. It's not about your job title."

"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."

"When you're in bed, you're dead."

"So you know what I'm doing? I'm saying goodbye."

"The most important thing is feeling like you matter."

"If you really want to know what people care about, don't listen to what they say. Watch what they do."

"You need someone to validate you."

"This is how you start to get respect, by offering something that you have."