Have a Little Faith - Mitch Albom

I started reading again lately - finally, I'm done with those Motherhood magazines for a while.

This particular book that I just finished, Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom, struck me a lot.

Here are some quotes from the book that I want to share with you and to record it down so I can remember them for myself.

- Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.

- My friends, if we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of 'I could have, I should have." We can sleep in a storm. And when it's time, our goodbyes will be complete.

- He refused to wallow in self-pity. In fact, the worse thigns got for him, the more intent he seemed on making sure no one around him was saddened by it.

- The secret of happiness. Be satisfied. Be grateful. For what you have. For the love you receive. And for what God gives you.

- God makes the decision he renders is correct. God doesnt punish anyone out of the blue. God knows what he is doing.

- He seemed to embody a magnetic repulsion between faith and wealth. "What profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?"

- Can you predict which marriages will survive? Sometimes. If they are communicating well, they have a good chance. If they have similar belief system, similar values, they have a good chance. What about love? Love they should always have. But love changes.

Love - the infatuation kind - that can shrivel. As soon as something goes wrong, that kind of love can fly out of the window. On the other hand, a true love can enrich itself. It gets tested and grows stronger.

When she says "How can you ask if I love you? Look at all I've done with you. What else would you call it?"

That kind of love - the kind you realise you already have by the life you created together - that's the kind that lasts.

- Remember, the only difference between 'marital' and 'martial' is where you put the 'i'

- I think people expect too much from marriage today. They expect perfection. Every moment should be bliss. But that is not human experience. Like Sarah says, twenty good minutes here, forty good minutes there, it adds up to something beautiful. The trick is when things aren't so great, you don't junk the whole thing. It's okay to have an argument. It's okay that the other one nudges you a little, bothers you a little. It's part of being close to someone.

- But the joy you get from the closeness - when you watch your children, when you wake up and smile at each other - that is a blessing. People forget that.

- The word "commitment" has lost its meaning. And if you don't commit? You'll miss what's on the other side - a happiness that you can't find alone.

- I believe there is goodness in man. Then why do we do so many bad things? Because God gave us is free will. Freedom to choose. I believe he gave us everthing needed to build a beautiful world, if we choose wisely.

- Because from the beginning, God said "I'm gonna put this world into your hands. If I run everything, then that's not you." So we were created with a piece of divinity inside us, but this thing called free will, and I think God watches us every day, lovingly, praying we will make the right choice.

- You can't work your way into heaven. Anytime you try and justify yourself with works, you disqualify yourself with works. What I do here, every day, for the rest of my life, is only my way of saying "Lord, regardless of what eternity holds for me, let me give you something back to you. Let me make something of my life before I go..."

- With a little faith, people can fix things, and they truly can change, because at that moment, you could not believe otherwise.