Saturday, March 21, 2020

Quote Morrie Schwartz Meaning of Life Devote Yourself to Loving free essay sample

Friends and family, today we all gather here to acknowledge the death of our beloved Morrie Schwartz. Morrie Schwartz was a remarkable person, a loving husband, a caring father and a phenomenal professor. His loving personality has touched the lives of many people around him, including his students, family, and friends. During the time I spent with Morrie he taught me many lessons and gave me guidance toward life, his words significantly changed my perspective on life. I have learned from Morrie, many valuable lessons that we tend to forget as we live our daily lives. I knew Morrie was different as soon as I walked through the doors into Morrie’s classroom. As soon as I walked in through the door I was greeted with Morrie’s special smile. When class started, Right off the bat, Morrie said, â€Å"I hope that one day, you think of me as your friend. We will write a custom essay sample on Quote Morrie Schwartz Meaning of Life Devote Yourself to Loving or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † And let me tell you, Morrie was a lot more than just a friend to me. He was my best friend, my mentor, and my coach. Morrie was like no one I’d ever met before. He had a completely different view of life†¦and death. He used to say, â€Å"Once you learn to die, and you’ll learn to live. At first, I didn’t quite understand him but now after he passed away, I believe the meaning of that philosophy is one must accept the possibility of ones own death before they can truly appreciate what they have on earth.Morrie was a strong believer in disregarding popular culture, and living life on our own terms. He used to say, â€Å"sometimes you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own. â€Å"He always told us that society shouldn’t be allowed to determine what values you want to follow choose for yourself.Morrie had great communication skills many of us don’t use. When Morrie was with you, he was really with you. He looked you straight in the eye, and he listened as if you were the only person in the world. Morrie also possessed the rare talent to make any situation bright and optimistic. During the painful progress of his illness, there were many embarrassing and unpleasant situations that he was put through, yet he never complained and the atmosphere around him was always rosy and positive. Someone once asked Morrie if he was afraid of being forgotten after he was gone, and I know I speak for everyone present here when I say Morrie was such an amazing personality, that he wouldn’t be forgotten for ages. As Morrie once said, â€Å"Death ends a life, not a relationship.†

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Has vs. Had

Has vs. Had Has vs. Had Has vs. Had By Maeve Maddox I received this note from a reader: My friends and I consider ourselves to be pretty good English speakers. But, when and where to use has and had has us beat.  Can you assist? The verb to have ranks right up there with be and do as far as the variety of ways in which it is used. I’m guessing that the reader is referring to the use of has and had in their role as auxiliary or helping verbs. Has and had are forms of the verb to have. Their use as helping verbs is to form perfect tenses. First of all, let’s clarify the grammatical  meaning of perfect. It does not mean â€Å"In a state of complete excellence; free from any imperfection or defect of quality; that cannot be improved upon; flawless, faultless.† Perfect to describe a verb tense has to do with the completion of an action. Linguists argue over how many verb tenses English has, but for our purposes, we’ll say that English has six basic tenses: Simple Present: They cook. Present Perfect: They have cooked. Simple Past: They cooked. Past Perfect: They had cooked. Future: They will walk. Future Perfect: They will have walked. I’ll limit my remarks to Present Perfect and Past Perfect. Present Perfect Have or has is used with a past participle to form the present perfect tense. This tense designates action which began in the past but continues into the present, or the effect of the action continues into the present. Compare these sentences: My father drove a school bus. (simple past) My father has driven a school bus for three years. (present perfect) The first sentence implies that the father no longer drives a school bus; the second sentence indicates that he is still driving a school bus. Past Perfect This past perfect (also called the pluperfect) is formed with had and a past participle. The past perfect indicates an action that was completed in the past before another action took place. Compare: Arnold painted the garage when his friends arrived. (simple past) Arnold had painted the garage when his friends arrived. (past perfect before simple past) In the first sentence, Arnold started painting the garage at the time his friends arrived. He was probably hoping they would help him. In the second sentence, Arnold had completed the action of painting the garage by the time his friends arrived. In sentences that express condition and result, the past perfect belongs in the part of the sentence that states the condition: â€Å"If I had made better choices in my youth, I would be better off today.† I often hear television characters use the simple past instead of the past perfect in the condition clause: â€Å"If I knew you were coming, I would have baked a cake.† They also create such convoluted constructions as â€Å"If I would have known you were coming, I would have baked a cake† instead of: â€Å"If I had known you were coming, I would have baked a cake.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with Heart11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your WritingThe Difference Between "Shade" and "Shadow"