Customer Reviews
inspirational - By: rasha, 06 Sep 2006 
This book is a master piece , so simple yet so profound. Touched me deeply & made me THINK. Before I started the book I expected the lessons to imply something new, actuallly I was a bit disappointed in this respect, coz nothing new was said about life , love or death etc.... but the way the whole story is made up.. morrie being dying & watching himself perishing yet still has this great spirit & this great wisdom & still has something to give to others .. he made me stop & think & re-evaluate my whole life, he inspired me & made me wanna be like him, a person with importance,, a person who's life has a meaning & never stops giving..
There was a quote in the story that reallly toughed me (a teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops) it reallly made me love being a teacher .(as I am a new teacher & working to be a professor).
And also the idea of his student writing this book about him & immortalize him through the book touched me deeply. thinking me in this distant part of the world knowing & reading about Morrie's story in the other part of the world while he might have thought he was just any one who lived & died with only his family & friends to remember him ..the idea is inspirational & made me wish I've had a chance to meet him & learn from him.. & wish if I can talk to him now & tell him that people this far after these years know about you & are inspired by you.
Disappointing - By: , 01 Apr 2005 
Having read the synopsis on the back cover,I was pretty excited about diving into this book- Great! Someone who was about to impart some illuminating truths about life that we have missed along the way.
Yes, i'm sure that having very little time left to live would sharpen one's perceptions about life/death etc..And I'm sure it would have provided a v. interesting angle when philosophising about life but I don't feel there is anything 'new' when considering 'life's greatest lesson' to learn. I think there is mention of the most simplest things in life being the best...I felt a bit miffed at this point as I thought, hmm didn't Ms Janet Jackson cover this theme in one of her songs back in the nineties??? Well, as I read on, I felt the alll the ideas in terms of lessons to learn were alll a bit cliched; With alll due respect to Morrie, for whom I did feel alll the sympathy in the world as he watched himself slip away from the world...
Something and Nothing - By: , 20 May 2004 
Morrie Schwartz was clearly a fairly remarkable guy, & this book stands as a loving, if rather saccharine, tribute to him. And as a tribute it's fine, though I'm sure there was more depth to his character than this superficial 'nice guy' potrait alllows.
And denying any level of complexity unfortunately contributes to this books rather trite & simplistic presentation of his 'message'. He's almost certainly right in his prescriptions for a fulfilling life, but there will people who whilst recognising the veracity of his message find themselves for any number of possibly complex & deep rooted reasons unable to readily put them into effect in their own life. I suspect Morrie himself would've appreciated that, sadly this book doesn't.
A Young Man's Fumbling Death Bed Learning - By: Donald Mitchell, 13 May 2004 Professor Morrie Schwartz is the mentor we would alll like to have. Often we fail to seek out such a mentor because we feel inadequate or not worthy enough. If so, you will identify with Mitch Albom who seeks out his teacher's wisdom for the final time in this book. His fumbling should reassure even the most inhibited person to reach out for this kind of connection. That's the hidden beauty of this book, as Professor Schwartz's goodness shines through the narrowness of Mr. Albom's life.
This wonderful book focuses on the meaning of life, from the perspective of a teacher (Morrie Schwartz) who is about to lose his life & his pupil, (Mitch Albom) who has lost his focus on what is important. They come together for 14 Tuesdays (just like they did while the author was a college student at Brandeis) before the professor passes away of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).
This book is filed with the most beautiful sayings you can imagine. Here are a few examples: 'Giving to other people is what makes us feel alive.' 'Love each other or perish.' 'Everybody knows they are going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.' 'Learn to detach from experience.'
Many people would avoid a book on this subject, because they do not want to think about death. Although Morrie Schwartz is dying throughout this book, the subject is reallly about living rather than dying. Few will find the dying to be distressing, even though it is graphicallly & frequently addressed.
For those of us with many years to live, this book can be a wake-up calll to start reallly living now -- in the ways we would if we were about to die, as well as to learn how to treat others while we still have them with us. For those who have but little time left, this book can be an inspiration for how to get the most out of the remaining time.
You will probably find it heart-warming (as I did) to find out that the advance on this book was paid in time to help defray some of Professor Schwartz's medical expenses.
May you find new meaning in your life from reading this wonderful book! Life is a teacher, & Morrie Schwartz's thoughts can be a text to help you understand the lessons. Live well & make your choices consciously!
A Most Significant Read - By: , 04 Jan 2004 I believe most of us have a person that reminds us of Morrie. It was such a personal book to me. I can't say enough positive things about it. This was truly a life lesson for me. As I began to read I could see Morrie was a very simple, clear, positive thinking man. He had such a compassionate outlook about everything. If there were one book in this world I'd want to tell the people closest to me to read, it would be this one. He was a true inspiration to me. Read this book, by alll means.
