In the nonfiction book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, Morrie is a person who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him and will be himself no matter what happens. The ability to do this comes with the bravery, wisdom, and love you gain through the years of life. In the memoir, Morrie teaches about fear and how it often controls the lives of those not brave enough to face it. One instance of this is when Morrie says, “If you hold back on the emotions-if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them-you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid. You're afraid of that pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails'' (104). Morrie explains that you have to experience the …show more content…
Throughout this book, Morrie shows an extraordinary understanding of the way of life and the way it could be lived. He believes that many people are confused about the “wants” and “needs” of the world. He states that “you need food, you want a chocolate sundae” and “you don't need the latest sports car, you don't need the biggest house” (126). According to Morrie, the thing that gives you the satisfaction you wish you got from all those “wants,” is offering what you have to give to others, like your time and concern. Morrie also believes that status is pointless, “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” (127-128). Morrie states that the only thing that will make you equal to those around is an open heart. The way Morrie feels about life corresponds to the way he feels about death. He states “The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live” (82). The only issue Morrie seems to see with this is many people don’t learn how to die early enough to live. Morrie doesn’t think that people believe in the inevitability of death, as he says “‘Everyone knows they’re going to die,’ he said again, ‘but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently’” (81). Morrie believes that we don't live since we don’t realize that death is …show more content…
Love was an emotion that Morrie valued above all others; he felt as if it could solve any problem in the world. Morrie acts upon the belief that “the most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in” (52). Throughout his life, Morrie did just that; he gave out all the love he could muster and let any love from others come in. Going back to the topic of fear, fear picks the biggest fight with love throughout life. Morrie says, “Life is a series of pulls back and forth…Most of us live somewhere in the middle. A wrestling match…Which side wins? Love wins. Love always wins” (40). Morrie recognizes the importance and power that love has over all things, and he truly believes that it can defeat any other overtaking emotions. He believes that “without love, we are birds with broken wings” and that we can never jump out of the nest of life and fly (92). Morrie also recognizes that love can't be faked or replaced by something else. He says, “These people were so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes…You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship” (125). Morrie never believed anything was quite like love; nothing could compare to the sense of joy and comfort that it gives off. Morrie believed that, with love, you could enjoy life in a way that others admire, as