"It's not to late to... ask yourself if you really are the person you want to be, and if not, who you do want to be"
About this Quote
The intent is gently confrontational: stop outsourcing your life to inertia, expectations, or the version of you that was rewarded in the past. “It’s not too late” is the classic reassurance, but Morrie’s twist is what follows: don’t just feel better, decide better. He shifts the focus from regret (“I should have…”) to agency (“Who do you want to be?”). That second question is the real trapdoor. It demands specificity. It won’t let you hide behind vague aspirations like “happier” or “successful.” It asks for an identity with edges: what values, what commitments, what relationships, what daily behavior.
The subtext is mortality, but not as melodrama. Schwartz, best known through Tuesdays with Morrie, speaks from the educator’s vantage point where learning is lifelong and grades come late. Age in this framing isn’t a closing door; it’s a brutal clarifier. You can’t negotiate with time, but you can renegotiate with yourself.
Contextually, it’s a corrective to a culture that treats personality as fixed (“That’s just how I am”) and ambition as destiny. Morrie offers a more unsettling freedom: you’re not stuck, you’re choosing - even when you don’t realize it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reinvention |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Schwartz, Morrie. (2026, January 18). It's not to late to... ask yourself if you really are the person you want to be, and if not, who you do want to be. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-not-to-late-to-ask-yourself-if-you-really-are-5165/
Chicago Style
Schwartz, Morrie. "It's not to late to... ask yourself if you really are the person you want to be, and if not, who you do want to be." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-not-to-late-to-ask-yourself-if-you-really-are-5165/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It's not to late to... ask yourself if you really are the person you want to be, and if not, who you do want to be." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-not-to-late-to-ask-yourself-if-you-really-are-5165/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.









