Mitch Albom Quotes & Sayings

But I do know we're deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don't satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted. — Mitch Albom

With Marguerite, he wanted only time - more and more time - and he was granted it, nighttimes and daytimes and nighttimes again. — Mitch Albom

In any conversation, I was taught, there are at least three parties: you, the other person, and the Lord. — Mitch Albom

We do not realize the sound the world makes
unless, of course, it comes to a stop. Then, when it starts, it sounds like an orchestra. — Mitch Albom

I find interesting characters or lessons that resonate with people and sometimes I write about them in the sports pages, sometimes I write them in a column, sometimes in a novel, sometimes a play or sometimes in nonfiction. But at the core I always say to myself, 'Is there a story here? Is this something people want to read?' — Mitch Albom

It is too late."
The old man shook his head. "It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be."
He smiled. "There is a plan, Dor. — Mitch Albom

Be satisfied. Be grateful. For what you have. For what the love you received. And for what God has given you — Mitch Albom

I don't want to leave the world in a state of fright. I want to know what's happening, accept it, get to a peaceful place, and let go — Mitch Albom

But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin. — Mitch Albom

Another family story is forges, one that father and son will laugh about for decades. This is how a legacy is built. One memory at a time. — Mitch Albom

But they wanted you. Time is not something you give back. The very next moment may be answer to your prayer. To deny that is to deny the most important part of the future. — Mitch Albom

Napoleon once dismissed religion as 'what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.' Meaning, without the fear of God
or literally the hell we might have to pay
the rest of us would just take what we wanted. — Mitch Albom

Detachment doesn't mean you don't let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That's how you are able to leave it. — Mitch Albom

When love dries in a marriage, the children become mortar for the bricks. When the children leave, the bricks just sit atop each other. When the children die, the bricks tumble. — Mitch Albom

I don't mean you disregard every rule of your community. I don't go around naked, for example. I don't run through red lights. The little things, I can obey. But the big things- how we think, what we value- those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone-or any society- determine those for you. ' -Morrie Schwartz — Mitch Albom

Catholic ritual of Sancta Missa: " 'Come in haste to assist them, you saints of God. Come in haste to meet them, you angels of the Lord. Enfold in your arms these souls, and take your burden heavenward to the most high. — Mitch Albom

Morrie went to his funeral. He came home depressed. "What a waste," he said. "All those people saying all those wonderful things, and Irv never got to hear any of it. — Mitch Albom

Ness-that Morrie was looking at life from some very different place than anyone else I knew. A healthier place. A more sensible place. And he was about to die.
But it was also becoming clear to me- through his courage, his humor, his patience, and his openIf some mystical clarity of thought came when you looked death in the eye, then I knew Morrie wanted to share it. — Mitch Albom

What do you do when the dead return? It is the thing people most fear- yet, in some cases, most desire — Mitch Albom

Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. — Mitch Albom

I am not one of the "slower" talents, like Reason or Mathematics. I am Music. If I bless you singing, you can do so from your first attempt. — Mitch Albom

Back in the sanctuary, the Reb concluded his taped message by saying, "Please love one another, talk to one another, don't let trivialities dissolve friendships ... " Then he sang a simple tune, which translated to: "Good-bye friends, good-bye friends, good-bye, good-bye, see you again, see you again, good-bye." The congregation, one last time, joined in. You could say it was the loudest prayer of his career. But I always knew he'd go out with a song. — Mitch Albom

If you accept that you can die at any time - then you might not be as ambitious as you are — Mitch Albom

Morrie might have died without ever seeing me again. I had no good excuse for this, except the one that everyone these days seems to have. I had become too wrapped up in the siren song of my own life. I was busy. — Mitch Albom

He stayed that way for a while, fallen man, porcelain angel, as if the two of them waited for a bus. — Mitch Albom

I used to be a classic workaholic, and after seeing how little work and career really mean when you reach the end of your life, I put a new emphasis on things I believe count more. These things include: family, friends, being part of a community, and appreciating the little joys of the average day. — Mitch Albom

Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother's approval, a father's nod - are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives. — Mitch Albom

Don't cling to things because everything is impermanent. — Mitch Albom

Life is a series of pulls back and forth ... A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. Most of us live somewhere in the middle. A wrestling match ... Which side win? Love wins. Love always wins — Mitch Albom

Please, please, please, please, please ... ,, squeezing his eyes shut because it somehow made the words more pure. — Mitch Albom

Every ending is a beginning. We just don't know it at the time. — Mitch Albom

It was sad, the imbalance of it all. Why do kids assume so much from one parent and hold the other to a lower, looser standard? — Mitch Albom

I also believe that parents, if they love you, will hold you up safely, above their swirling waters, and sometimes that means you'll never know what they endured, and you may treat them unkindly, in a way you otherwise wouldn't. — Mitch Albom

Fairness does not govern life and death. — Mitch Albom

Don't fall asleep in classes. It's such a lucky thing you have, to be taught and to be learning and not have to be working in a shop somewhere. — Mitch Albom

The secret to happiness ... be satisfied and be grateful. — Mitch Albom

You need someone to probe you in that direction. It won't just happen automatically.
I knew what he was saying. We all need teachers in our lives. — Mitch Albom

Without love we all like birds with broken wings. — Mitch Albom

We all yearn for what we have lost. But sometimes, we forget what we have. — Mitch Albom

He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born. — Mitch Albom

Scenery without solace is meaningless. — Mitch Albom

I used to think I knew everything. I was a "smart person" who "got things done," and because of that, the higher I climbed, the more I could look down and scoff at what seemed silly or simple, even religion.
But I realized something as I drove home that night: that I am neither better nor smarter, only luckier. And I should be ashamed of thinking I knew everything, because you can know the whole world and still feel lost in it. So many people are in pain-no matter how smart or accomplished-they cry, they yearn, they hurt.But instead of looking down on things, they look up, which is where I should have been looking, too. Because when the world quiets to the sound of your own breathing, we all want the same things:comfort, love, and a peaceful heart. — Mitch Albom

The second death. To think that you died and no one would remember you. I wondered if this was why we tried so hard to make our mark in America. To be known. Think of how important celebrity has become. We sing to get famous; expose our worst secrets to get famous; lose weight, eat bugs, even commit murder to get famous. Our young people post their deepest thoughts on public web sites. They run cameras from their bedrooms. It's as if we are screaming Notice Me! Remember Me! Yet the notoriety barely lasts. Names quickly blur and in time are forgotten. — Mitch Albom

Mothers support certain illusions about their children, and one of my illusions was that I liked who I was, because she did. When she passed away, so did that idea. — Mitch Albom

Because, from the beginning , God said, 'I'm gonna put this world into your hands. If I run everything, then that's not you.' So we were created with a piece of divinity inside us, but with this thing called free will, and I think God watches us everyday, lovingly, praying we will make the right choices. — Mitch Albom

But there still seemed to be no clear answers. Do you take care of others or take care of your "inner child"? Return to traditional values or reject tradition as useless? Seek success or seek simplicity? Just Say No or Just Do It? — Mitch Albom

Once, lovers on faraway shores sat by candlelight and dipped ink to parchment, writing words that could not be erased. They took an evening to compose their thoughts, maybe the next evening as well. — Mitch Albom

In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right?' His voice dropped to a whisper. 'But here's the secret: in between, we need others as well. — Mitch Albom

My own father didn't talk a lot about feelings or emotions. — Mitch Albom

As happens with all miracles, once life goes on, those who believe retell them with wonder. Those who do not, do not. — Mitch Albom

No life is a waste," the Blue Man said. "The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we're alone. — Mitch Albom

They teach you, as children, that you might go to heaven. They never teach you that heaven might come to you. — Mitch Albom

Every person on the planet-including Grace, Lorraine, Victor and Sarah- will instantly stop aging. And one person with start. — Mitch Albom

That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another — Mitch Albom

Don't be sorry. You're alive. — Mitch Albom

That's what heaven is. You get to make sense of your yesterdays — Mitch Albom

Please make it yesterday, when Papa came home. — Mitch Albom

there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn't the family. — Mitch Albom

Sometimes I think the greatest talent of all is perseverance. — Mitch Albom

Every family is a ghost story. — Mitch Albom

With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we can't appreciate what we have — Mitch Albom

I have said that music allows for quick creation. But it is nothing compared with what you humans can destroy in a single conversation. — Mitch Albom

Adam hid in the Garden of Eden. Moses tried to substitute his brother. Jonah jumped a boat and was swallowed by a whale ... Man likes to run from God. It's a tradition. — Mitch Albom

No story sits by itself, Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river. — Mitch Albom

It's the thinking that gets you killed. — Mitch Albom

That's because no one is born with anger. And when we die, the soul is freed from it. But now, here, in order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did, and why you no longer feel it. — Mitch Albom

There is nothing more fun than hanging around with friends and banging on instruments. Anyone who has ever done it knows that this is true. — Mitch Albom

In order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it. — Mitch Albom

Sometimes when you're losing someone, you hang on to whatever tradition you can. — Mitch Albom

You've lived through a lot of wars, I said.
"Yes."
Do they ever make more sense?
"No. — Mitch Albom

I hope you never hear those words. Your mom. She died. They are different than other words. They are too big to fit in your ears. They belong to some strange, heavy, powerful language that pounds away at the side of your head, a wrecking ball coming at you again and again, until finally, the words crack a hole large enough to fit inside your brain. And in so doing, they split you apart. — Mitch Albom

Knowing heaven is what heals us on earth. — Mitch Albom

No. You can't work your way into heaven. Anytime you try and justify yourself with works, you disqualify yourself with works. What I do here, every day, for the rest of my life, is only my way of saying, 'Lord, regardless of what eternity holds for me, let me give something back to you. I know it doesn't even no scorecard. But let me make something of my life before I go.. and then, Lord, I'm at your mercy. — Mitch Albom

This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. — Mitch Albom

Listen. You should know something. All younger people should know something. If you're always battling against getting older, you're always going to be unhappy, because it will happen anyhow. — Mitch Albom

Man wants to own his existence. But no one owns time. — Mitch Albom

I don't know what it is about food your mother makes for you, especially when it's something that anyone can make - pancakes, meat loaf, tuna salad - but it carries a certain taste of memory. — Mitch Albom

And I suppose tapes are a desperate attempt to steal something from Death's suitcase. — Mitch Albom

The truth is, part of me is every age. I'm a three-year-old, I'm a five-year-old, I'm a thirty-seven-year-old, I'm a fifty-year-old. I've been through all of them, and I know what it's like. I delight in being a child when it's appropriate to be a child. I delight in being a wise old man when it's appropriate to be a wise old man. Think of all I can be! I am every age, up to my own. — Mitch Albom

I've always said I have one skill. That skill - if I have it at all - is storytelling. — Mitch Albom

When you are measuring life, you are not living it. — Mitch Albom

Still what I miss most, simple and maybe selfish as it sounds, is the twinkle in Morrie's eyes when I came in the room. But When someone is happy-genuninely happy-to see you, it melts you from the start. It is like going home. — Mitch Albom

Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else. — Mitch Albom

I HAVE A HEARTBURN AND DIAHREA AT THE MOMENT
LIFE'S ABITCH. CHAT LATER?
[signed] SORE TUSH — Mitch Albom

I know I cannot undo this. None of us can undo what we've done, or relive a life already recorded. — Mitch Albom

I give myself a good cry if I need it, but then I concentrate on all good things still in my life. — Mitch Albom

It's natural to die," he said again. "The fact that we make such a big hullabaloo over it is all because we don't see ourselves as part of nature. We think because we're human we're something above nature."

He smiled at the plant.

"We're not. Everything that gets born, dies. — Mitch Albom

To know you're going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time.
That's better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life
while you're living. — Mitch Albom

What you have done to this point cannot be undone. What you do next ... It is still unwritten. — Mitch Albom

Detroit is a place where we've had it pretty tough. But there is a generosity here and a well of kindness that goes deep. — Mitch Albom

The word 'commitment' has lost it's meaning. I'm old enough to remember when it used to be positive. A commited person was someone to be admired. He was loyal and steady. Now a commitment is something you avoid. You don't want to tie yourself down ... — Mitch Albom

Strangers," the Blue Man said, "are just family yo have yet to come to know. — Mitch Albom

Your voice will come. We all go through the same thing. You cannot talk when you first arrive."
He smiled. "It helps you listen. — Mitch Albom

Remember this, Francisco," he said. "The secret is not to make your music louder, but to make the world quieter. — Mitch Albom

Try to imagine a life without timekeeping. You probably can't. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. an alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out. — Mitch Albom

You don't know how to live until you learn how to die. — Mitch Albom

Kids chase the love that eludes them. — Mitch Albom

A woman has been chosen. The gift of heaven on earth. This will become the biggest story in the world. Coldwater, Michigan. Ask a man of God. One call will confirm everything. — Mitch Albom

Her divorced friends had made a pact not to leave each other alone on nights when loneliness had extra strength. — Mitch Albom

Time is not something you give back — Mitch Albom