“I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day.”
- Mitch Albom (Albom 17)
"'Sometimes, in the mornings,' he said. 'That’s when I mourn. I feel around my body, I move my fingers and my hands—whatever I can still move—and I mourn what I’ve lost. I mourn the slow, insidious way in which I’m dying. But then I stop mourning.'"
- Morrie (17)
"I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories I’m going to hear. On you—if it’s Tuesday. Because we’re Tuesday people."
- Morrie (17)
"'It’s only horrible if you see it that way,' Morrie said. 'It’s horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing. But it’s also wonderful because of all the time I get to say good-bye.'"
- Morrie (17)
Self-pity refreshes, but will eventually consume.
In Chapter 9: The Second Tuesday We Talk About Feeling Sorry for Yourself, the two explore the natural inclination toward self-pity. The above excerpts describe how Morrie balances feeling sorry for himself and staying positive. He allows himself to acknowledge the severity of his illness but remembers to pay extra attention to the parts of his life that he can still enjoy. This balance ensures that he can remain realistic about his situation while eliminating any hinderance on life's other delights. To quote from the third excerpt, "It's only horrible if you see it that way" (17).
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