You have to find what’s good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now. Looking back makes you competitive. And, age is not a competitive issu… - Mitch Albom

You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship

He tells my parents how I took every class he taught. He tells them, “You have a special boy here.” Embarrassed, I look at my feet. Before we leave, I hand my professor a present, a tan briefcase with his initials on the front. I bought this the day before at a shopping mall. I didn’t want to forget him. Maybe I didn’t want him to forget me.

“Mitch, you are one of the good ones,” he says, admiring the briefcase. Then he hugs me. I feel his thin arms around my back. I am taller than he is, and when he holds me, I feel awkward, older, as if I were the parent and he were the child.

He asks if I will stay in touch, and without hesitation I say, “Of course.” When he steps back, I see that he is crying.

To know you're going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time.
That's better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life
while you're living.