![]() "The vehicle for wisdom is silence" (Ethics of the Fathers, 3:13), as King Solomon tells us, "'Closing one's lips makes a person wise" (Proverbs 10:19). When we're alone in the car, do we immediately reach for the radio? Is it any wonder that talk radio is such a booming international business? We are so afraid of silence, so fearful of the opportunity to be with ourselves and penetrate our inner world. Constant external stimuli and occurrences allow us to avoid dealing with our inner being. We fool ourselves, and the noise and distractions of life help us in this effort. Shakespeare writes in Hamlet, "This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day," but we often fail in this regard. It is hard to be absolutely honest with oneself. Very often, it is painful to face one's true inner core. Noise lets us ignore our most difficult struggle and our most precious possession: our true and profound selves. Why are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise?" And slowly a discussion begin - as Morrie has wanted all along - about the effect of silence on human relations. This goes on for a good fifteen minutes, before Morrie breaks in with a whisper. A few students look out the window, trying to be above it all. When is he going to say something? We squirm, check our watches. At first, there are a few giggles, but Morrie only shrugs, and eventually a deep silence falls and we begin noticing the smallest sounds, the radiator humming in the corner of the room, the nasal breathing of one of the students. "He enters the classroom, sits down, doesn't say anything. Mitch describes a college experience with Morrie: The book touches on a number of profound themes, and I'd like to share my thoughts on one of them: the value of silence. ![]() The last class in my old professor's life had only one student. A funeral was held in lieu of graduation. The last lecture was brief, only a few words. No books were required, yet many topics were covered, including love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and finally, death. Kissing him goodbye earned you extra credit. ![]() You were also expected to perform physical tasks now and then such as lifting the professor's head to a comfortable spot on the pillow or placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. You were expected to respond to questions and you were expected to pose questions of your own. No grades were given but there were oral exams each week. "The last class of my old professor's life took place once a week in his house," Mitch writes, ".the class met on Tuesdays. Mitch's goodbye turns out to be a series of consecutive Tuesdays spanning many months. Mitch decides that although he hasn't spoken to his favorite professor since graduation, he needs to go see him to say goodbye. Morrie was Mitch's favorite teacher in college because Morrie was so unconventional, reflective and insightful in all areas of human relations - sociology, philosophy, and psychology. Little did I know what a major decision that turned out to be.įor those who haven't read it, "Tuesdays with Morrie" is the true story of how a past student, Detroit sportswriter Mitch Albom, of a dying Brandeis University professor, Morrie Schwartz, meet up again shortly after Morrie is diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Lou Gehrig's disease, a fatal illness of the neurological system. The short blurb on the cover intrigued me: "An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson." Right then and there, I made a mental note to make Mitch Albom's bestselling "Tuesdays with Morrie" my next book. On a recent flight, my eyes caught a book that a fellow passenger was reading.
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