Aphorism Drawing

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." This was one of many famous aphorisms made by Morrie Schwartz. In Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie tries to get Mitch to fully understand the meaning of this aphorism: "'I'm going to say it again,' he said. 'Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.' He smiled, and I realized what he was doing. He was making sure I absorbed this point, without embarrassing me by asking." Now, I think that this can be interpreted in many ways, but to me, I think it is talking about how we take many things for granted. I think that when you learn how to die, you start to realize the little things in life; making you learn how to live life to the fullest; taking risks every now and then. I believe that this was Morrie's main message from this aphorism. That people who haven't welcomed death, don't truly know how to not take things for granted.

I found this aphorism to relate not really to a historical event, but rather a historical person; Martin Luther King Jr.. You see, this aphorism is mainly about taking risk and facing death, but also not taking things for granted, Martin Luther King Jr. does all of this. He preaches and protests even though he knew there was a target on his back. He knew that if he kept protesting, he would eventually die, but he took that risk to help others. I suppose you can say that he didn't take his own life for granted. He put others before himself and he died for others. He didn't just get killed in a robbery, he got assassinated for helping others. Martin Luther King Jr., to me, is one of the best examples for this aphorism.

I couldn't agree more with this aphorism. Well, I guess if I'm actually dying and I know how it feels to die, I would get this sort of "Ah, ha." moment; making me understand it even more. The point is that I do agree with what this aphorism is trying to say. I believed that no one could not take anything for granted, but that all changed after I read Tuesday with Morrie. Morrie made me see that when someone is dying, they truly view life as a gift, hence, "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." I honestly, don't know how someone could not agree with this aphorism. I don't know how someone could think that a person who only experienced life can know everything.