10 October 2014

"Tuesdays With Morrie" Blog 2

- - -  Explain, "Love is the only rational act."  What does the quote mean to Morrie and how does it apply to Mitch?

- - -  Explain the much larger significance of Morrie's class exercise at the end of the Second Tuesday.  Much larger than the obvious point of the exercise.  In other words, why does Mitch include this exercise in the book?


51 comments:

  1. The quote love is the only rational act means a lot to Morrie. The reader learns that Morrie has not always had a great life. His mother died when he was a young and his father was not sentimental. To him, love is something of great value because he did not see much of it in his life. Love, to Morrie, is something that makes a person human. Humans do things out of love. Morrie believes that any action done because of love is a rational decision. The quote applies to Mitch because his life after college barely included acts from love. Mitch gave up his dreams and he made decisions based on materialistic things. The only act he has made out of love is marrying his wife. Even this act is marred by his job and unwillingness to have a family. Morrie is trying to tell Mitch none of his actions are rational. Morrie is saying everything Mitch has done with his life is impractical.
    The larger significance to the trust fall exercise is the only way to trust someone is based upon feeling. Morrie explains that feeling is believing. In the exercise, if the students closed their eyes they were able to fall back. The students must feel enough trust to go against their instinct. The exercise explains that trusting someone can over rule a humans instincts. Trusting someone is the equivalent of having them catch you when you fall. All you can do is hope your feeling was correct. In life we put trust in people and hope that we made the right decision. We only find out whether we correctly placed our trust when we test the person. Mitch includes this exercise in the book because it has significant meaning in daily life. Trust is a powerful thing that can catch you if placed correctly or leave you lying on your back.

    ReplyDelete
  2. To Morrie, this quote means he has lived a reasonable life. Morrie has been a very loving person and, unknowingly, has lived up to this quote. Unlike Mitch, Morrie has accepted a lot of things recently; death, no privacy, dependency on others, but he seems to have always accepted love. Mitch is so built up in his accomplishments and work, that he does not have time to accept love. He won't even take the time to raise a family with his wife. Now that Mitch started to visit Morrie, work is not his top priority anymore.

    Morrie's class exercise shows that people rely too much on what they see. Instead of going with their gut and natural instinct, people look to see what others are doing and follow along. Mitch included this exercise, because when he picked up Morrie, Morrie had to trust that Mitch was not going to let him fall. This showed that Morrie felt he could trust him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love is the only rational act because you don't have to love someone it is kind of just brought to that person or thing. Morrie just loves everyone and everything and couldn't care less what people say about him he just loves them. This applies to Mitch because Morie loves Mitch even though Mitch hasn't talked to him in 16 years but that doesn't effect Morrie from "loving" Mitch. The class importance is that Morrie is trying to teach Mitch life's greatest lesson and to tell Mitch that you should love life. He includes this in his book because he wants to get the full experience of the lessons.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In the passage, Morrie says, "Love is the only rational act". This quote means that love is the only thing all humans possess that they can not fake. You can not fake love, it can only be expressed sincerely. Love is also one of the only actions that can be committed by anyone, young or old. Morrie is a loving, and lovable person. He shows love to everyone he meets. You could say that Morrie lives by this quote. This applies to Mitch, because even though Mitch showed no love for Morrie for 16 years, he is trying to show his love now. You could say he is trying to be rational finally.

    Mitch Albom includes the trust fall exercise in his book. In a trust fall, you trust on a partner to catch you as you fall. I believe Albom uses this as a metaphor. Morrie for say is falling (dying), and is trusting Mitch to catch him. He doesn't really know Mitch anymore since they haven't conversed for 16 years, yet he trusts him to catch him in his final fall; death. That is why I think Mitch Albom includes this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Love is the only rational act." means that love beats any other act their is. In other word love always wins. No matter if your fighting, frighten, or sad, love always pushes its way in their and wins. The quote means a lot to Morrie. How every morning he gets up and cries a little but then forgets it because he knows people ,like Mitch, love him and he has to love himself as well. It apply to Mitch because he is a little bit lost of what to do with his job in Detroit. Not because they're on strike but because he doesn't really like to do it, it seems. He doesn't really love it so why does he do it ? What he really loves is Morrie and the piano.
    Mitch includes this part in the book because Morrie doesn't know when he going to die but he knows how. Morrie is "left in the dark" about when he is going to past but he accepts it, he "trust" it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This quote is the basis of Morrie's life. He believes in loving himself, the people he has in his life and the community around him. Love is a rational act for Morrie because he uses it to enjoy his life as much as possible, even as he is slowly dying, especially with people because that is how he can receive the most out of it. This quote applies to Mitch because lately the only thing he has truly loved and put all his time into is his work. He has been flying around for his job and leaving behind his wife and Morrie and anyone else who at one time meant everything to him but now he shows very little affection for. He would be so much happier if he could take all the love and attention away from his work and give it to the people around him. Sure a job is great to have and enjoy but it gives nothing back to you besides a paycheck.



    The much larger point of the exercise and the reason Albom includes it is because of how it relates to Morrie. The way Morrie is dying is completely horrific and tragic, however he keeps himself together by emphasizing the joy in his life and expressing his love for the people around him. He feels more emotions to compensate for the unbelievable and unpredictable way will die.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Question 1: This quote meant that humans need to love to survive and is the one thing in life we can be sure of. While it may come with consequences, it will change life for the better. Everyone loves and is loved. As Morrie was dying, this quote meant a lot to him. His comfort in life was love. He relied on the love of Mitch and his family to keep fighting. Morrie believed that love was the only rational act because it kept him going when he thought he was done. This quote also heavily applies to Mitch. In the beginning of the book, Mitch is portrayed as a materialistic, hard-working man. He seems to have no love in his life. Mitch is living an unhappy, meaningless life. Morrie is trying to show Mitch through this quote that love is the key to unlocking the door of happiness. Having love in this life will help Mitch break free of the current culture and live a life worth living. Love is the cornerstone of life.
    Question 2: Mitch Albom includes this flashback in the book to show the readers how Morrie, a man living life, thinks compared to the rest of society, the majority whom live for wealth. Many of the students do not trust their partner to catch them. Morrie, though, and the black-haired girl trust other humans. Mitch is trying to show the audience that trust is a large part of living a happy life. People must trust others to help them when they need it. In this passage, Morrie also says that the students had to believe what they felt. Mitch is trying, also, to tell the readers to trust their heart and mind because that will lead to a happy life worth living.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The quote "Love is the only rational act," is used because that is what Morrie really needs at this point in his life. He just wants to know that he is loved. He is telling this to Mitch because Morrie knows that his heart has hardened over the years and he told him the common fear of letting love in. He said that we think we don't deserve love, and that if we let it come in then we will become too soft. He knows Mitch fears becoming too soft, but 'love is the only rational act.
    This exercise is used to build trust among the class. Mitch includes this exercise to partly show Morrie's character and how he connects with the class. Morrie says, Sometimes you cannot believe in what you see you have to believe in 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 are falling." Mitch uses this to show that Morrie has this certain trust with him. In the paragraph before he explains this exercise, Mitch lifted Morrie out of his chair into his recliner. Morrie had to trust Mitch in this process.

    ReplyDelete
  9. When Morrie says this he means that we need love in our life. He means that out of anything we do if we just love, show love, give love, and take in love we will be alright. He is trying to stress that all material things do not matter that only through loving your family, friends, and letting them love you can you live a life without any regrets and truly die knowing you lived your life. This quote to Morrie is one that is close to his heart. He truly believes love is the most important thing in any ones life. To Mitch this is just like another lesson from his old professor. Mitch tries to take all the aphorisms given him by Morrie to try to improve his life and change what he has done wrong. This applies to Mitch, because he needs to learn how to love and how to be loved so when it comes time that Morrie does die Mitch can live his live without regrets such as Morrie. Also, he can pass on Morrie's teachings and wisdom.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "Love is the only rational act." Means that love is just about the only logical thing in the world. To Morrie it is the most important thing in life, to learn how to give love and to learn how to let it in. Mitch includes this in his story to show the significance of trust. He used this to show that he has a over abundance of trusting Morrie.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Other than the obvious of trust being important this exercise was needed in the book. This exercise in the classroom was done by Morrie to show the class that the in order to be successful in life you have to trust somebody. If you are selfish and only looking out for yourself and don't care about others you wont be able to succeed. Mitch includes this in the book, because he wants to express that some point in your life you are going to need to trust somebody. And, if you are unable to trust this person you won't be able to succeed which creates regrets. These regrets could haunt you for the rest of your life when you should just close your eyes and trust as the girl did in the novel.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This quote is saying that love is is in every ones life even tho we don't fully understand it. To be fully human we must love. To morrie he doesn't have to much time left in his life so he wants to express as much as pissible to others. Mitch is also learning to love other and appreciate the love he received via morrie.

    I believe that he didn't actually need to ad this is in the book. What it do was add emphasis on how much he trust morrie

    ReplyDelete
  13. The quote, “Love is the only rational act,” means that love is normal in being human and that it is acceptable to love. To Morrie this quote means that he needs to give out all the love he can while he is still here. This quote applies to Mitch because he does not give out enough love. He focuses too much on his job and making money. Mitch needs to step back from work and realize that it is okay to give out and take in love.

    The larger significance of Morrie’s class exercise at the end of the Second Tuesday is to show us that trust is blind. In order to trust someone sometimes you must use what you feel and not what you see. During the trust fall exercise one of the girls closed her eyes as she fell. This shows that in order to trust someone you must take a risk and follow what your feelings tell you about the trustworthiness of someone.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 1. The quote "Love is the only rational act." means that love ,although it creates irrational thoughts and actions, is what gives humans a sense of what it is truly like to be human. To love anther human being and create happiness for yourself and those you love creates a reason as to why love is the only rational act. This quote means to Morrie that although he is dying he is till going to love. He is going to love those around him and appreciate all they do for him in his limited time left. This quote applies to Mitch because at this point in the story Mitch was obsessed with his work, it was all he did. He focused his entire life to this point on working and not on loving and caring for other people. He states in the book that he interviewed grieving families and went to funerals and did not cry. This was because he was being compassionate and truly trying to feel the loss that family has to live through.
    2. Mitch includes this in his book to show that Morrie was trying to teach the students to trust people. Although they may not have known one anther very well they must learn to trust that partner by falling and relying on them to catch them.

    ReplyDelete
  15. "Love is the only rational act." can be interpreted using the sentences around this one. Morrie is creating a point that most people believe that love is irrational and it is just a feeling. Love is just a tingly feeling you get in your fingers when you are talking to someone. Morrie wants to point out that it is more than that. He believes that love truly does make sense. It is more than a feeling and it is an enjoyable state of mind. It is just as important to give love as it is to receive love. "Love is the only rational act" is Morrie's way of showing that love is getting him through his illness. His feelings and the way others feel towards him are creating ever lasting memories and moments that he will never forget as it is his time to pass. This quote applies to Mitch as an eye opener. Morrie is basically telling Mitch to focus on the small things in life that will bring you joy forever. Love is a feeling that you will never forget whether it be with a friend or a spouse, but whomever it is, it will forever remain in the back of your brain. Mitch is going to take this into realization and apply it to his life, especially with his last moments he will get to have with Morrie. Mitch includes the exercise at the end of the Second Tuesday to represent the trust he used to have with Morrie and the trust he wants to regain from Morrie before his death. Mitch refers back to this exercise because it was a life lesson that peeked his memory as he held Morrie in his arms. Mitch says, "I had the coldest realization that our time was running out." That was when Mitch realized he really messed up by not keeping in touch with Morrie for those sixteen years. He knows it is almost as though he has to restart because it is impossible to pick up where he left off and to still have Morrie's trust. However, Mitch is willing to show Morrie that he will always be there for him, no matter what the circumstances are.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "Love is the only rational act." This quote, which was stated by Morrie, means that in the end love is the one thing a person can count on most. Although jobs, sports, and school may seem important in life, they are merely temporary, whereas love is permanent. Love is forever, and true love will never die. Mitch needs to be told this because he is a man who put everything before love. He put his accomplishments before a family. He put his career before keeping in touch with his old friends, like Morrie, who love him. The flashback refers to a trust exercise where feeling accomplishes more than seeing. Mitch included it to show how trust is not a sign of weakness, and sometimes the power of emotion outweighs that of logic, in that it is sometimes more obvious.

    ReplyDelete
  17. 1.) Love is the only rational act pertains to Morrie and Mitch. Morrie says he cries alot more than he used to. He never realized what people who suffer go through until he was suffering himself. He thinks it's important to let people be nice to you and be nice back. This is important to Mitch because people try to be nice to him and love him but, continues to block people out because hes too focused on himself and work. Mitch is too unaware of the people trying to love him and doesn't love anything but work. Which means he needs to allow love to come in and give love out so he can enjoy life more.

    2.) Mitch adds this exercise in the story because people do not trust each other enough as they maybe should. People sometimes think that trusting one another they will automatically get hurt. But, when we trust one another good things can come out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. When Morrie says that love is the only rational act, he means that love comes naturally to us as humans. He is saying that love is an act that we all know how to do by instinct. For Morrie this means that he believes that even with all the hate in the world, everyone can love each other. This quote can apply to Mitch because he probably doesn't believe that everyone can love because of what is going on in his life at work. With strike and protest that is happening at his job, it could be hard for him to believe something like that.

    The significance of Morrie's exercise is that believing is more important than knowing. In the exercise, the students of his class are to fall back and be caught by another student. None of them are willing to do so except one. This student closes her eyes and falls into the arms of her partner. Morrie said that closing her eyes was the key and that " you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel". This shows that believing in someone or something is far more important than knowing or seeing something.

    ReplyDelete
  19. When Morrie says "love is the only rational act" he is referring to the idea that love is the best way of showing emotions. Although Morrie is upset about losing his hands and speech, because they are apart of him, he is able to see the future of feeling things instead. Morrie believes that being in the presence of the people he loves is enough, that holding someones hand is able to transfer more emotion then saying so in words.

    The idea of this was to feel with your heart, specifically trust, rather then seeing to believing. Morrie is trying for his students to experience more in life then just seeing to believe. He wants them to be able to have an open mind and believe in things even if it isn't right in front of them. Mitch includes this in the story because he wants the reader to see that trusting someone is blind, no one has no real reason for trust a person but they feel that they should. Mitch shows his full trust in Morrie here, expressing he would do anything for him.

    ReplyDelete
  20. “Love is the rational act”, means we must let love have its place in our lives. We cannot force love out of our life, because even when all else fails, love is rational. Even when people are lost emotionally, they can always love. Morrie describes this as the thing he has learned the most since he has had the disease. Morrie must let love come in, and give it out, because he has a short amount of time to do so. He must love those who are in his life, because we will not have time to tell them that later. This has a large affect on Mitch, who does not let in love, or give it out. He has devoted his life to work, and in The Student, Mitch barely mentions his wife Janine, nor any of his family and friends. When he pulls up to Morrie’s house, he finishes a business call before talking to a friend he hasn't seen in sixteen years. Mitch filled love with work and Morrie has made him realize this. Morrie talks about love often, and always has an optimistic view, even though he is dying of ALS.
    The exercise at the end of the Second Tuesday is about trust. Morrie says that to have others trust you, you must trust them too, not matter when or what the circumstances. Mitch Albom includes this in the book for two reasons. It show how wise Morrie is, and how wise he has always been. Even before his diagnosis, he was a great professor and teacher about life. Another reason it is included is because his remembrance of it, show Mitch’s trust of Morrie, and vice versa. Morrie is a teacher to Mitch, but he is a friend as well.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The quote "Love is the only rational act" means that love is the only feeling that truly makes sense. Love is associated with happiness, which is sought after by everyone. This quote is saying that love is the only emotion that humans can be absolutely sure of. Before this quote was used, Morrie says, "Let it come in. We think we don't deserve love, we think if we let it in we'll become too soft." To Morrie, this quote means to accept the love around you instead of rejecting it. His disease taught him to feel this way. When the disease takes full form, love will be the only thing that motivates him. Albom thinks that he doesn't deserve how Morrie is treating him since his existence slipped his mind for sixteen years. Earlier in the book, Morrie says to Albom, "Ah, Mitch, I'm gonna loosen you up," when referencing to his crying. By accepting Morrie's love and his own emotions Albom will be able to truly admire what is going on around him.
    Mitch includes this exercise in the book because what is happening related to him then. Morrie is saying that the strongest sense is our emotions and that people should believe in what they feel. What you see occasionally tricks the mind. He wants his students to understand that trusting someone is not a one way feeling. Both parties have to feel this trust. Trust comes as an instinct. In the section above these paragraphs, Morrie trusts Albom to lift him and set him in his chair. Morrie, referring to his exercise, says,"...you must feel that you can trust them, too--even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling." Morrie's health is on a rapid decline and trusts others to care for him. Even though he is sick and "falling", he still has this feeling. Mitch recognizes this reliance and returns the sentiment.

    ReplyDelete
  22. To Morrie, "Love is the only rational act" means that love is the one reaction he can have in response to his inevitable death. Instead of falling into a period of self-hate and negativity towards the world and his life because of the unfair fate the affliction has forced upon him, he only grows in love and his ability to give it to others. Mitch, on the other hand, responds negatively to many things and only acts selfishly. Therefore, Morrie can teach Mitch how to react with love and positivity and give these feelings to others, a lesson he desperately needs in order to transition from an unsatisfactory life to a fulfilling one.

    The exercise is a metaphor explaining Mitch and Morrie's position in relation to each other. Mitch is, in essence, falling in his life. He is unhappy with himself, his love and compassion for others, in addition to his newspaper job, lost. His rapid acquisition of accomplishments are taking a toll on his mentality, causing him to move too fast in his life and be extremely self-serving. Morrie can show him how to lead a fulfilling life, but Mitch is too afraid to figuratively fall into Morrie's arms, trusting a new lifestyle. Morrie trusts Mitch, but Mitch feels like he needs to warrant his trust by being honest with him and trusting him enough to fall, closing his eyes and not thinking of what could happen if Morrie failed to catch him.

    ReplyDelete
  23. "Love is the only rational act" means that love is the only thing in this world that is reasonable. To Morrie, love is the thing that is most important. Because he is dying, it is what he charishes the most as well. It applies to Mitch because he is putting his job and success above his love for Morrie and his wife. He should be loving them before his job because putting love for people first is the only logical way to live.

    The much larger significance of Morrie's class exercise and the reason why Mitch included it in his book is to show how it applies to Mitch's situation at the time. The trust exercise applies to Mitch because at the moment, he is basing his life on the world around him and his job instead of basing it on what he believes in his heart. In Morrie's words, he is believing what he sees instead of what he feels. It also applies to Mitch because he is not living his life to the fullest, and needs to put his trust in Morrie to show him how to value his life.

    ReplyDelete
  24. 1. Love is a rational act because it is a joyous state of mind. It allows you to feel a connection with others. This quote means a lot to Morrie because it is one of the few things he can still hold on to. He is able to love his friends and family while he is slowly dying. This quote applies to Mitch because he is so focused in his job that he leaves his wife to travel around, like England for instance. It is nice to love your job but not to that extent. It cannot love you back, while another person can.

    2. The larger significance of the exercise that Mitch recalls at the end on the Second Tuesday is that you have to believe what you feel. Even if you cannot see it, it is there and you need to trust that and have faith in others if you want them to trust you as well.

    ReplyDelete
  25. When Morrie says that "Love is the only rational act" he is explaining to the readers how he has learned to open up to other people, even if he doesn't know them. He learned to show love, because it is the only thing that shows true emotion. This applies to what Morrie has been trying to get Mitch to change. He should appreciate what is around him more and let out his true feelings. When Mitch flashes back to Morrie's trust exercises in class, he is relating it to picking Morrie up and moving him to his seat. Mitch tells Morrie that he can rely on him to help. Mitch uses his previous experiences from the class to show Morrie that he can trust him and how much he loves him. This leaves Morrie with an unexplainable level of comfort.

    ReplyDelete
  26. When Morrie says "love is the only rational act" Morrie means it is the foremost human behavior, it's comes naturally to everyone, everyone does it. Love is a feeling and a reaction. This applies to Mitch when Mitch felt like he understood Morrie as he "leaned over to give him a hug. And then, although it is really not like me, I kissed him on the cheek."
    In the second Tuesday, I believe Morrie has more of a meaning to his "trust falls". Morrie wanted his students to understand you have to believe what you feel, and if you don't you can't trust them. You can't just think you can trust someone they need to know if they fall, you will be there to catch them. This exercise was included in the book too show when your eyes are closed someone you rely on will be there to guide you.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The quote "Love is the only rational act." is a quote that Morrie finds very important. This quote shows that Morrie thinks that you should live life giving out and receiving love, and if you aren't, then you need to start doing that. This quotes applies to Mitch because Mitch does not live by accepting and giving love. Morrie tells this to Mitch in the hopes that he will start living his life like that.

    The exercise performed at the end of the Second Tuesday signifies what Morrie and Mitch are going through in Morrie's last lecture. This represents how Morrie needs Mitch to trust what he is teaching him about life. Mitch includes this because he is also trying to convince the reader to listen to all of Morrie's advice. Mitch includes this section to teach the readers a lesson that he learned and wanted to pass on because it was important to him.

    ReplyDelete
  28. To Morrie, he believes that this quote is the way that life should be lived. He believes loving everything to find enjoyment in his life. This is rational in Morrie's opinion because he uses the quote to find enjoyment and stay optimistic in what little time he has left in this world. The quote applies to Mitch through the love of his work. As of late, all that Mitch has truly shown love for is his love and his achievements. He leaves behind all he should love; his family, his wife, and Morrie. As a result, he lives a life of little emotion and general unhappiness.
    Mitch includes this exercise in the book because it relates to Morrie. Even though Morrie is suffering ALS, a terrible disease, he remains optimistic and still finds joy in life. He shows love and compassion to people in order to remain optimistic despite his quickly worsening disease.

    ReplyDelete
  29. During the book, Morrie says that "love is the only rational act." To Morrie, this quote is a description of how he feels since he contracted the disease. More than ever, he is dependent upon other people. As well as being in need of their help, he also needs their love and support. It applies to Mitch because he is trying to tell him that showing affection does not make a person look weak. In today's society, it us often frowned upon for men to show emotion and feelings. Morrie is trying to tell Mitch to break that stereotype and be who he wants to be. At the end of the Second Tuesday, Morrie's class exercise is the cliche trust fall, but in the story it holds a much deeper meaning. The only girl that is able to trust the other students had her eyes closed while doing the exercise. It was important enough to include in the story because it was a metaphor for blind trust. It means that sometimes you have to rely on your feelings and let your heart guide you in order to make good decisions.




    ReplyDelete
  30. The quote presented in the story, "Love is the only rational act", is used because in this moment in Morrie's life, love is all he needs and wants. He tries to explain this concept to Mitch that over the past years his heart has hardened, and he needs to loosen up. Mitch does not let love in because he does not want to be too soft. Although, Morrie says that even though we think we don't deserve love, we really do need it to live an enjoyable life. Morrie tries to teach this valuable lesson to Mitch and he hopes he will start to love again.

    Mitch includes Morrie's class exercise at the end of the Second Tuesday in his book because it shows the great significance of trust. This is presented in the story because it builds up Morrie's character and shows the connection with him and his class. Mitch uses this idea to show that he trusts Morrie and that Morrie trusts him. For example, when Mitch lifted Morrie out of his chair into the recliner, Morrie had to trust Mitch that he would not drop him or hurt him. Therefore, Morrie's class exercise establishes trust within Morrie and Mitch's relationship.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Morrie’s quote “Love is the only rational act” describes what we do in everyday life and what is important. This quote means that no materialistic item, no amount of money, fame, or bad quality of life matters, only love. He also means that any act that does not lead to love is irrational. This can be seen through Morrie’s thoughts and lessons. He is a dying man, with a terminal illness, who is going to die a slow tragic death. Yet, he is phenomenally optimistic, he does not fear death but embraces it. He is dying happy. This is due to him spreading love through family and friends visiting him. So what Morrie thinks as rational thought is anything that leads to happiness, and love is the only way to true happiness. This applies to Mitch because he is almost the opposite of Morrie. Mitch is caught up in everyday life, with his job especially. He hasn’t made time for a family, did not make time for Morrie till this point in the story, and often was a jerk. Meanwhile, all Mitch was doing was trying to find happiness. Morrie whispers this quote again with vocal effects. Morrie wants Mitch to realize what he means when he says “Love is the only rational act.” Morrie wants Mitch to turn his life around and find love, not spend his days working like a machine.

    At the end of the Second Tuesday, Morrie has his class perform a basic trust fall. We can see that these college classmates are not extremely close friends. They are more so acquaintances of each other from class. This causes the class to have to trust someone they are not particularly used to trusting. The only person to fully trust in their partner without catching themselves is a girl, and she closes her eyes. Afterwards Morrie says this “‘you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel.’” He later goes on to say “‘you must feel that you can trust them too—even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.’” Morrie has a hidden messages within these quotes. Morrie uses the the description of trusting yourself, what you feel, not what you see. This can be related to a persons gut feeling. Morrie also touches upon the fact that your gut feeling almost always right. Even your mind seems to have no logical explanation of what to do, or even if the world seems to point everything in a different direction. This by him saying “you must feel that you can trust them too.” Mitch puts this in the story for a reason. Mitch is too often caught up thinking with his mind and not with his gut. He thinks everything out logically, trying to make the most money, trying to be the most productive. Mitch learns a crucial lesson in this classroom activity. Although he doesn’t learn it till he beings his Tuesdays with Morrie. He learns that even though your brain is pointing towards your job. Your gut and heart point towards the right thing. The right thing for him to do is to start to love more and work less. Mitch put that story in this book to show what he learned, and show how he may change.

    ReplyDelete
  32. "Love is the only rational act" means that love gives people a reason to feel warm, alive, and in a joyous state of mind. The only thing that makes sense for people to do is to be happy. This is a sentimental quote to Morrie because he lacked love and compassion throughout his childhood since his mother died when he was only eight years old. Once his father remarried, his stepmother provided him with all the motherly love he had been deprived of once she died. He wants to emphasize the importance of being compassionate towards others. Mitch is affected by the hardships people go through on a daily basis around him and is almost oblivious to the world around him. Morrie tries to explain to him that it's okay to feel sorry or cry for others once in a while.

    The significance of the "trust fall" exercise at the end of the Second Tuesday is that if a person wants someone to trust him/her, then he/she needs to show he/she trusts that person in return. The trust between two people can sometimes be risky, like the girl that fell back with her eyes closed, but is a risk they must take in order to be trusted or to ever trust anybody else. Trust is such a pertinent characteristic in a relationship between people and is necessary for it to be successful.

    ReplyDelete
  33. "Love is the only rational act" means that sharing love is the smart thing to do in life, not to disput. This quote to Morrie means that he has to live life to the fullest and to give and recieve love. It applies to Mitch becasue that is what Morrie is trying to teach him and is what he already does himself.The large significance in the class exersise is to teach people that you shouldn't always trust what you see, but trust what you fell. Mitch includes the exercise in the book because he knows that the it has made an impact on his life. An exapmle of this would be when he wanted to become a musician, but then felt like he was wasting his time, went back to school, and became a writer. Also he wants to pass this lesson on to the readers of his book so we can learn the same as he did and so it may have an impact on our lives just as it did with his.

    ReplyDelete

  34. Morrie talks to Mitch about being "fully human." To be "fully human" he states: one must create their own culture, no matter how absurd it is to the rest of society, centered around love only, not money. So it makes sense that "Love is the only rational act." It is the characteristic that makes us "fully human." The human feeling of love should never be suppressed. This quote is very important to him, as he mourns and even cries for the innocent people who have died half way across the world. Since he has gotten this disease, it has opened up his eyes. As he nears death, he can relate to the people who have just died who were mostly younger than him and he feels a sense of love for them. This quote applies to Mitch, because he is the exact opposite of it. He feels no love, no compassion. Morrie is hoping to change this as he says "I'm gonna show you it's okay to cry" and the quote is already softening him for he kissed Morrie on the check, inexplicably, before he left.

    After the trust fall exercise takes place, Morrie says: "Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel." Mitch includes this exercise to give us a comparison of what he was going through at the time. Even though he saw Morrie weakened, he couldn't believe his eyes and kept trying to convince himself that he wasn't dying. It wasn't until he helped Morrie back into his chair that he felt the "seeds of death inside of his shriveling frame." He couldn't believe what he saw, but he could believe what he felt. Mitch includes this exercise for that reason. He wanted to give the readers an accurate comparison of what he was experience and how unbelievable it was to him.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "Love is the only rational act." Most people think of love being irrational. When you are in love, it can cause you to perform acts you wouldn't usually do. The way we react to things is because of love. Throughout life we face many difficult problems, and the only solution is love. Morrie is faced with the inevitability of death. Yet he is able to make it through this tough time with love from his friends, family, and himself. With that, he is able to fulfill everything in life. When Mitch kisses Morrie's cheek, which is something he doesn't normally do, he is starting to learn that it's important to express love and let it in. To Mitch, he is beginning to realize that without love, you are not living.

    In Morrie's class exercise. he makes the students sit in silence for fifteen minutes. In silence you have no sounds around to distract you. You are stuck with the environment around you and you inner thoughts. Noise allows people to distract themselves from their feelings, their difficult struggles, and their true selves. It is hard for people to face their inner core because then they are forced to be completely honest with themselves. Morrie says Mitch reminds him of himself in his younger years, someone who is comfortable with silence, but has a struggle to physically voice his feelings with others. Mitch includes this in the story because Morrie has been introduced to us as a person that has no problem expressing his thoughts and emotions. Morrie basically bares all of himself, and it is hard to believe that he was once a person afraid to voice his emotions.

    ReplyDelete
  36. The quote, "love is the only rational act," is a odd quote to mention to someone. Usually people say that love is irrational and don't know why you fall in love. Morrie tell Mitch that the most important thing in life is to give out love. He then kissed Mitch on his way out, and he showed the affection he had for people. Mitch never cries, and Morrie has been trying to get him cry since college. He wants Mitch to show his emotion instead of bundling it up. The second Tuesday the trust exercise was a very significant moment. It thought the class how you have to trust people blindly and know that they will trust you as well. Mitch realizes that Morrie trusts him, and he knows that he can trust Morrie with whatever happens or what he asks.

    ReplyDelete
  37. The quote "Love is the only rational act" contrasts with the modern ideas of love. Most people believe that acts of love are irrational, because they are based on only feelings. This quote contradicts that idea by stating that love is the only thing that can be acted on rationally. To Morrie, the quote helps him to understand the actions of people in the world. In the book, Morrie explains his thoughts on love, "We think we don't deserve love, we think if we let it in we'll become too soft." This shows how the quote helps Morrie to understand why people act the way they do. The quote applies to Mitch, because Mitch lacks love in his life. He ignored his wife's requests to start a family because he was too caught up in his work life. He didn't follow through with his promise to Morrie, and even when it came time to see him, Mitch acted as though he didn't want to be there. The quote can help Mitch to understand that it is okay to act on your feelings.

    The exercise at the end of the Second Tuesday was included in the book because it shows Mitch beginning to change. At the beginning of the book, Mitch is unprepared to learn what Morrie is trying to teach him. As the book begins to progress, Mitch realizes he enjoys being with Morrie and trusts his thoughts. The exercise shows this because it demonstrates that you must have trust in relationships and that it is a risk you must take sometimes. It helps the reader to understand that Mitch is finally beginning to understand that idea.

    ReplyDelete
  38. To Morrie, the quote implies that to develop a meaningful life, people must act from their heart. Because when they act this way, the task fulfilled is something they care about, so their life has purpose. This applies to Mitch because this quote suggests that Mitch's life without love and support from his family and friends is meaningless. Thus, this why Mitch feels so morally lost and seeks Morrie's guidance.

    Mitch includes Morrie's class exercise at the end of the second Tuesday because the lesson applies to him in the moment before the flashback more than ever. With the realization that Mitch was losing Morrie, he decides that he needs to trust Morrie even when he is eventually gone.

    ReplyDelete
  39. This quote is saying that showing love is the only reasonable act. Morrie is serious about this quote and says that the most important think in life is giving out love and letting it come in. He says people think love will make us soft if we let it in, but Morrie disagrees. He realizes how important love is in life. This quote hit Mitch hard. He almost felt bad for Morrie so he gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. I think Mitch is realizing how important it is to keep in touch with Morrie until his death because Morrie needs support and love.
    The larger significance is trust and being able to rely on others. Now that Morrie is sick all he can do is rely on others since he cannot do everything by himself. He says that sometimes you can't believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. He also says that if you are going to have other people trust you, you have to trust them. He adds "Even when you're falling." Morrie is describing his life and the importance of trust. When Morrie states "Even when you're falling", he is talking about when he is dying and he has to trust others to get through it.

    ReplyDelete
  40. In my opinion the quote "love is the only rational act" has a very important impact on Morrie and his daily life. I see this through his personality and his actions. An example of this is how Morrie sees right past superficial aspects of a person and gets to know them for their good side. He looks past the bad and try's to help correct it then he falls in love with the good person underneath everybody. Since love is one of the strongest emotions and mostly an amazing feeling, it is the most rational act because with love behind something only a positive outcome could happen. With love comes respect, joy, trust, strength and many more emotions. And I believe Morrie understands that you need too give this amazing thing to others and allow it to come into your life so that you can feel all those emotions. Now to Mitch I think it is not as meaningful but still important. He realizes that when he kisses Morrie he is giving such an important thing,showing Morrie how much he cares for him. He forgets about all the bad when he is with Morrie, he feels positive and he feels the love he is receiving from him. At the end of the second Tuesday when Mitch tells about Morrie's class and the activity the students did was meaningful to this story. It showed how Morrie taught his lessons and the wisdom behind it. An activity as simple as trust falls, was used to help the students understand trust. How you need to need to close your eyes and feel the trust. And trust yourself, don't let nerves and second thoughts control your trust for someone.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Morrie quoted Levin who said,"Love is the only rational act" because he believes that love is the only act in which it comes to all humans naturally. We don't have to work on love or practice it. Morrie stated this quote because it applies to Mitch. Morrie feels that the key points in life are love and compassion. And without them you're not "fully human". I believe this applies to Mitch because he is living a fast pace life and is only going after money instead of love or compassion. I feel Morrie believes that money should be the last goal in life. And love should be your top priority.

    The second Tuesday Morrie created an exercise with his students that helped them trust each other. The obvious black and white goal was to build trust. The larger point of this exercise that made Mitch put this in the book is that a relationship such as Mitch and Morrie's should have trust in it. And this trust will guide you throughout the relationship. He also uses this to show that all relationships have a level of risk in them. And without trust that this risk will not happen there cannot be a relationship between two people.

    ReplyDelete
  42. The quote means that love is the only important thing. Love is the only thing thats worth sacrifices. Morrie finds this quote important because he focuses a lot on family and friends and living a life full of love. However Mitch focuses more on work and money instead of the things that really mean something.
    He includes the exercise to show that Mitch is starting to open up more to his feelings. That exercise showed him to trust and close his eyes, which is something he forgot about as he got older. Being with Morrie has opened up his eyes again and he is slowly becoming human.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Morrie says that love is the only rational act because material things don't matter to him anymore. The only thing that matters is the love of his friends and family. He doesn't want gifts or special treatment, he simply wants to love and be loved by his friends and family.

    His exercise is to teach that you have to have trust. You have to rely on people sometimes and there's nothing wrong with that. You have to trust your feelings and go with what your heart tells you.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Whenever Morrie says this it is very important. Saying that "love is the only rational act." He is implying that love is the only reason you should be doing what your doing, not for money or not because someone tells you to but out of pure compassion. This applies to Mitch because ever since he had left college he was only worried about himself and his work career. But Morrie is telling Mitch to have his focus on things he loves and cares about, such as his wife at the time. The exercise Morrie explains at the end of the second Tuesday has a large significance on the memoir. He is doing a breathing exercise showing Mitch how long he can hold his breath. Morrie can get the whole way to around 80. Mitch assumes that that is healthy and that Morrie will be along for a good bit longer. However Morrie starts to explain that his tank is half empty and he'll only be around for a couple more months. Mitch uses this, because it puts in perspective how long Morrie actually has left

    ReplyDelete
  45. Whenever Morrie says this it is very important. Saying that "love is the only rational act." He is implying that love is the only reason you should be doing what your doing, not for money or not because someone tells you to but out of pure compassion. This applies to Mitch because ever since he had left college he was only worried about himself and his work career. But Morrie is telling Mitch to have his focus on things he loves and cares about, such as his wife at the time. The exercise Morrie explains at the end of the second Tuesday has a large significance on the memoir. He is doing a breathing exercise showing Mitch how long he can hold his breath. Morrie can get the whole way to around 80. Mitch assumes that that is healthy and that Morrie will be along for a good bit longer. However Morrie starts to explain that his tank is half empty and he'll only be around for a couple more months. Mitch uses this, because it puts in perspective how long Morrie actually has left

    ReplyDelete
  46. 1.This quote is very important to Morrie. Morrie believes that in order to love you have to let it come in first. He said,"you cannot get to soft when it comes to love in order to let it in". Morrie wants everybody to love and feel the emotions he is going through. This apply to Mitch because, Morrie is getting to Mitch not being open to love. He is hinting to Mitch to be open to love and care and others will care back.

    2. This exercise is all about trust. Morrie leaves you with the thought that you have to trust others in order for them to trust you. He included this in the story because, Morrie is dying and he needs to trust other in order to survive longer.

    ReplyDelete
  47. To Morrie, this quote means that without love, there would be nothing. People would have nothing but hatred. In Morrie's eyes, love resolves conflicts and makes people show their true selflessness. There is nothing that can be wrong about showing love for yourself and others. It brings people together. This quote applies to Mitch because Morrie is telling Mitch to not be afraid to give and take love. Morrie is trying to open Mitch up to the world and show him how amazing life can be, even when faced with struggles. Love is the one thing that keeps Morrie going, and he is trying to relay this message to Mitch.

    Mitch includes this class's exercise in order to show that you have to let go and trust yourself and others in order to survive. You cannot only depend on yourself, but you also need the help of others. It shows that by finally letting your guard down and trust your fellow people, you will accomplish more than if you attempt to accomplish tasks on your own.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Morrie uses this quote to illustrate that love is the worlds only constant, no matter what man shows it to, he shows it to something. Mitch has been loving materialistic things his whole life, and realizes it isn't rational. Mitch includes the second Tuesday mostly to show the denigration of Morrie; it is his opening statement that it was his intention to see. He shows that he now is willing to help Connie with Morrie and his increasing need for peoples' help.

    ReplyDelete
  49. To Morrie this quote is resembling what he is going through with daises. He sees how now more then ever how much love people are giving to him and how he is giving it back. This applies to Mitch because Mitch is so caught up with other things that he is missing the bigger picture. Morrie is showing this to Mitch.

    I believe that this was included to show how one has to believe in what they feel. Morrie knows on the inside that his end is more near then others believe. He is the only one that can know what it is like to be dying because he can feel it. He can then predict is fait better then anyone else can.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Anastasia LandstorferOctober 14, 2014 at 7:20 PM

    Love is the only justifiable act. Loving someone is never a wrong act. No matter how many wrong things you have done in life you should always see that loving someone in your life is an accomplishment. To Morrie this quote means love has actually kept him alive. Whenever he started to feel bad for himself love and living brought him back. The loving people he surrrounded himself with and the love he reciprocated was something he would never regret. This idea gives Mitch something to think about. His life at the moment he explains is unhappiness. Morrie emphasizes that with love all is possible. No matter what Mitch is going through Morrie believes that with love Mitch can make it.
    The larger significance of this activity is that you have to believe in what you feel. You may see things that make you feel uncertain but that should not diminish your courage. For example Morrie is seeing changes in his body like loss of use of his legs. This however did not diminish his belief in what he feels. He still believes strongly in faith and love no matter what changes happen to his body. Morrie may be falling, but he trusts in others and himself even when he is in the dark. Mitch includes this because he wants people to understand how courageous of a person Morrie is no matter what situations he is put through or how things affect him.

    ReplyDelete
  51. "Love is the only rational act" means that love is one thing that every person can accept/give and it is genuine. You can try to fake it but people will know then. Love is the one factor that all humans feel/express towards something in one way or another. This quote to Morrie means that even though he his dying, there are still people in the world and thing that Morrie loves. Dying isn't a good reason to stop showing affection. This applies to Mitch because he chose to love things that would make his life better like working more hours to make money instead of taking the time to love his wife more. Also, this applies to Mitch because after Morrie talks about "Love is the only rational act" he kisses Morrie on the cheek which is unlikely for men to do to other men, but especially for Mitch given his personality. It truly shows how much Mitch loves Morrie and does an abnormal thing for him.

    The significance of this exercise is to obviously have trust in your partner that they will catch you. But, Morrie explains that this test is to show how you must believe in things that you cannot always see. Mitch includes this exercise in his story because I believe that he is trying to show how Morrie's exercise back Mitch'c college days is still being used by Morrie now. Morrie doesn't know what his health may bring him everyday or what challenges he will face, but he believes that he will be able to overcome them. I think Mitch applies himself to this exercise as well as he asks Morrie questions every time they meet with the faith that he will have an answer an continue to enlighten his life.

    ReplyDelete