Which side wins?

Mitch Albom: Tuesdays with Morrie

” Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We’re teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture does not work, don’t buy it. Create your own. Most people can’t do it. They’re more unhappy than me – even in my current condition. I may be dying, but I am surrounded by loving, caring souls. How many people can say that?”


“Have I told you about the tension of opposites?” he says. The tension of opposites?
“Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.”
Sounds like a wrestling match, I say.
“A wrestling match.” He laughs. “Yes, you could describe life that way.”
So which side wins, I ask?
“Which side wins?” He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth.
“Love wins. Love always wins.”


“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
I knew that he was right.


“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. He said, ‘Love is the only rational act’. “He repeated it carefully, pausing for effect. “Love is the only rational act.”


For a moment, I am sure she is going to thump on the floor. At the last instant, her assigned partner grabs her head and shoulders and yanks her up harshly.
“Whoa!” several students yell.
Some clap. Morrie finally smiles.
“You see,” he says to the girl, “you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too- even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.”