Morrie Schwartz
In 1999, actor Jack Lemmon portrayed Morris S. Schwartz in a television film adaptation of the book Tuesdays with Morrie, bringing the story of this American sociologist and university teacher to a broad viewing audience.
Born on December 20, 1916, in New York City, Schwartz was a citizen of the United States who received his education at the University of Chicago. He went on to work as a professor of sociology at Brandeis University, where he also pursued writing alongside his academic career. His professional life thus spanned the roles of sociologist, university teacher, and writer, all conducted in the English language.
Schwartz died on November 4, 1995, in Newton. He had become the subject of the book Tuesdays with Morrie, which documented his life and was later adapted into the 1999 television film in which Jack Lemmon played him.
Quotes by Morrie Schwartz
Morrie Schwartz's insights on:
If you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until you’re sixty-five.
Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.
Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it. Reminisce about it, but don’t live in it. Learn from it, but don’t punish yourself about it or continually regret it. Don’t get stuck in it.
Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward.
The best way to deal with that is to live in a fully conscious, compassionate, loving way. Don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed to recognize that this is the only way to live.