We have a sense that we should be like the mythical cowboy... able to take on and conquer anything and live in the world without the need for other people.
Morrie SchwartzWell, the truth is, if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any timeโthen you might not be as ambitious as you are.
Morrie SchwartzBe compassionate, and take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much a better place.
Morrie SchwartzThese were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. There were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship. Money is no substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you as I'm sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have.
Morrie SchwartzAnd, in addition to all the miseries, the young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you don't know what's going on? When people are manipulating you, telling you to buy this perfume and you'll be beautiful, or this pair of jeans and you'll be sexy-and you believe them! It's such nonsense.
Morrie Schwartz