Mitch Albom

Elderly amusement park maintenance worker Eddie dies while trying to save a young girl who gets in the way of a falling cart. In Heaven he meets five people who were unexpectedly instrumental in his life, discovering with each what he was supposed to have learned and what his purpose on Earth was.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

A specially produced paperback edition -- with flaps -- of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller, that has sold more than six million copies in hardcover Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret. Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you've ever thought about the afterlife -- and the meaning of our lives here on earth. With a timeless tale, appealing to all, this is a book that readers of fine fiction, and those who loved Tuesdays with Morrie, will treasure.

Cassandra Tang

“Fairness,” he said, “does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.”

Take one story, viewed from two different angles.

It’s just the author’s note and I’m already crying 

tanaz

Everyone has an idea of heaven, as do most religions, and they should all be respected. The version represented here is only a guess, a wish, in some ways, that my uncle, and others like him—people who felt unimportant here on earth—realize, finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved.

Hana Dbr

„That's because no one is born with anger. And when we die, the soul is freed of it. But now, here, in order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did, and why you no longer need to feel it“ 

Lindsey Barnett

"Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it. Life has to end" she said. "Love doesn't."

Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do. we do to ourselves.

“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.”

“Young men go to war. Sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they want to. Always, they feel they are supposed to. This comes from the sad, layered stories of life, which over the centuries have seen courage confused with picking up arms, and cowardice confused with laying them down.”

Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her.

“Life has to end,” she said. “Love doesn’t.”

"Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.”

Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.

“Because of loyalty," she said. "People don't die because of loyalty" They don't?" She smiled. "Religion? Government? Are we not loyal to such things, sometimes to the death?" Eddie shrugged. "Better," she said, "to be loyal to one another."

Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away.

"That's the thing. Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."

“I took your leg, to save your life.”

“Strangers are just family you have yet to come know.”

"I still don't understand," Eddie whispered. "What good came from your death?" “You lived," the Blue Man answered.

"It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed”.

"Fairness," he said, "does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young”.

When you are an outcast, even a tossed stone can be cherished.

“What killed ... you?" The Blue Man looked a bit surprised. He smiled at Eddie. "You did," he said.

For the rest of his life, whenever he thought of Marguerite, Eddie would see that moment, her waving over her shoulder, her dark hair falling over one eye, and he would feel the same arterial burst of love.

Reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven made me think about my life a lot. I certainly do not live a sin-free life, but I do think about how I affect other people as they do to me. I want to do good, but we still tend to hurt people, intentionally or not. In return, we also experience hurt from others, whether they intended to or not. As the saying goes, "Life is a cycle."

I enjoy reading Mitch Albom. Overall, this book isn't the definitive answer to how we should live our lives, but it leaves a lesson to carry in our minds all the time. :)

Reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven made me think about my life a lot. I certainly do not live a sin-free life, but I do think about how I affect other people as they do to me. I want to do good, but we still tend to hurt people, intentionally or not. In return, we also experience hurt from others, whether they intended to or not. As the saying goes, "Life is a cycle."
I enjoy reading Mitch Albom. Overall, this book isn't the definitive answer to how we should live our lives, but it leaves a lesson to carry in our minds all the time. :)

 it was really good for me because it makes you think about your own life in a deeper way. it shows that even the smallest actions can matter, even if we don't realize it. the book is emotional yet comforting—it deals with themes like death, regret, and forgiveness. here's a quick look at my favorite passage in the book. 

"that there are no random acts. that we are all connected. that you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."

the blue man held out his hand. "fairness," he said, "does not govern life and death. if it did, no good person would ever die young."

 it was really good for me because it makes you think about your own life in a deeper way. it shows that even the smallest actions can matter, even if we don't realize it. the book is emotional yet comforting—it deals with themes like death, regret, and forgiveness. here's a quick look at my favorite passage in the book. 

"that there are no random acts. that we are all connected. that you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."

the blue man held out his hand. "fairness," he said, "does not govern life and death. if it did, no good person would ever die young."

Sasha

✨But all endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.

✨“That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.”

✨“Fairness,” he said, “does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.”

✨“It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.

✨“No life is a waste,” the Blue Man said. “The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.”

✨Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices.

✨ALL PARENTS DAMAGE their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.

✨PARENTS RARELY LET go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them—a mother’s approval, a father’s nod—are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.

✨Which was worse when left unexplained: a life, or a death?

✨Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.

✨PEOPLE SAY THEY “find” love, as if it were an object hidden by a rock. But love takes many forms, and it is never the same for any man and woman.

✨“How could there be a reason? You died. You were forty-seven. You were the best person any of us knew, and you died and you lost everything. And I lost everything. I lost the only woman I ever loved.”

✨“Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it. “Life has to end,” she said. “Love doesn’t.”

✨Tucked beneath them was an old leather-bound box, a serious-looking thing. He flipped it open in hopes of a quick find. He frowned. Nothing important. No bank statements. No insurance policies. Just a black bow tie, a Chinese restaurant menu, an old deck of cards, a letter with an army medal, and a faded Polaroid of a man by a birthday cake, surrounded by children.

✨As usual, he saves his wife’s for last. He leans on the cane and he looks at the headstone and he thinks about many things. Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her.

Mariaaa

✨But all endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.

✨“That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.”

✨“Fairness,” he said, “does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.”

✨“It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.

✨“No life is a waste,” the Blue Man said. “The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.”

✨Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices.

✨ALL PARENTS DAMAGE their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.

✨PARENTS RARELY LET go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them—a mother’s approval, a father’s nod—are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.

✨Which was worse when left unexplained: a life, or a death?

✨Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.

✨PEOPLE SAY THEY “find” love, as if it were an object hidden by a rock. But love takes many forms, and it is never the same for any man and woman.

✨“How could there be a reason? You died. You were forty-seven. You were the best person any of us knew, and you died and you lost everything. And I lost everything. I lost the only woman I ever loved.”

✨“Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it. “Life has to end,” she said. “Love doesn’t.”

✨Tucked beneath them was an old leather-bound box, a serious-looking thing. He flipped it open in hopes of a quick find. He frowned. Nothing important. No bank statements. No insurance policies. Just a black bow tie, a Chinese restaurant menu, an old deck of cards, a letter with an army medal, and a faded Polaroid of a man by a birthday cake, surrounded by children.

✨As usual, he saves his wife’s for last. He leans on the cane and he looks at the headstone and he thinks about many things. Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her.

THE INSPIRATIONAL CLASSIC FROM THE MASTER STORYTELLER WHOSE BOOKS HAVE TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF OVER 40 MILLION READERS 'Mitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary' Cecilia Ahern _________ To his mind, Eddie has lived an uninspiring life. Now an old man, his job is to fix rides at a seaside amusement park. On his eighty-third birthday, Eddie's time on earth comes to an end. When a cart falls from the fairground, he rushes to save a little girl's life and tragically dies in the attempt. When Eddie awakens, he learns that the afterlife is not a destination, but a place where your existence is explained to you by five people - some of whom you knew, others who were ostensibly strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, five individuals revisit their connections to Eddie on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his 'meaningless' life and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: 'Why was I here?' __________ WHAT READERS SAYS ABOUT THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN 'Breathtakingly beautiful. A story that will stay with you forever' 'A beautiful and flawlessly choreographed book . . . No other book may ever compare' 'One of my favourite books . . . Wonderful, inspirational, and heart-warming! To me, it is a MUST READ! 'The book is beyond words . . . Well written, engaging, poignant' 'This really is a wonderful book. You should read it'

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Loved it at first, but then at the end it just felt very repetitive and not surprising ?? He met another person and they gave him the lesson, but nothing groundbreaking imo. 

but it is a very easy book to read, and super enjoyable. 

Eddie’s dad is still sus, no matter what happened at the end.

Denisse Garcia Ramírez 

Loved it at first, but then at the end it just felt very repetitive and not surprising ?? He met another person and they gave him the lesson, but nothing groundbreaking imo. 

but it is a very easy book to read, and super enjoyable. 

Eddie’s dad is still sus, no matter what happened at the end.

Ainsley Jeffery

"It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect". Overall, I really enjoyed this quick read reflecting on the people our lives touch, even if we don't know it. I liked the writing style, how to book was segmented into different aspects of Eddie's life, and overall the meaning behind it. Sometimes I find books about life, death and time to be cheesy and overly wise. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" found a sweet spot of connecting with readers without being too much.

Caroline

Mitch Albom has done it once more & as I read more of his books, I’m turning into one of his biggest fans. 

The five ppl you meet in heaven follows the story of Eddie 86, a maintenance guy at Rudy pier who leads a simple life (or as he thinks he leads a simple life). But an accident at the amusement park results in his death & furthermore into his afterlife where he meets 5 different ppl, teaching him five different lesson about his life on earth. 

This story was so heartwarming as well as heartbreaking all at the same time. The author has much good story telling skills, his writting kept me hook from the every beginning. Each person & each lesson is so through provoking and very reflective, making one reflect on our lives on this earth. 

A very highly recommended book if u like a quick read.

Sarah Sammis

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one of many books that follow the protagonist as he or she travels into the after life. In this case, it's a maintenance man from a local carnival named Eddie and he dies after being crushed by a falling ride. From there he learns the ropes of Heaven from five mentors whom he knew in his life.

These books can either be mind blowing explorations of the human spirit and imagination (The Inferno by Dante Alighieri), fantasy romps that straddle the morose and the fantastical (What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson) or like this book, smaltzy and rife with cliches.

The best thing about The Five People You Meet in Heaven is its length and its simplistic vocabulary. The book can easily be read in a couple of hours. The book starts off well, building suspense with Eddie's impending death but it is unable to stay interesting. By the end of the first lesson the book settles into a predictably annoying pattern of flashbacks and lessons with Eddie being gobsmacked by each one until the end when the last mentor has to hit him over the head with the moral of the story.

THIS WAS SO GOOD. and so sad ?! it’s one of those books that is so heartwarmingly sad that i feel the need to stare at the ceiling for a few hours after reading this. so thought provoking and really had me feeling like i should start being more grateful to people in my life. such a quick read too. 

akynn 

moonstone

“life has to end, love doesn’t”

😭😭😭😭😭  

Julie Rubens

I was debating whether I should give this book 3 or 4 stars. It was definitely one of the easiest and quickest reads ever and I thought the plot was interesting. At times the book was a bit boring, but because it is so short it didn't really matter. The ending was good though.

Very thought provoking. Probably my favorite book to date! Highly recommend 

Connie Pietranico 

yaya

me when i get to heaven: where the milfs at???
God: get out!!

Paulina 

amada ♡

Very short and thought evoking about how everyone’s actions affect other’s lives

Liz Hunsaker

Jenny Vuu

I really liked the story's concept of how you meet the five people in heaven in order to understand why you lived and for what purpose. Great read !

dija

It has been such a long time since i enjoyed a book written by a white man this much. Kudos to you Mitch Albom

i love mitch albom books and this book is actually one of the best book i've ever read. i enjoy reading this book so much

gita

Trish

I love how everything came around full circle in this book. I read it for the first time several years ago but the concept is still unique and very well executed. Mitch Albom is a great author if you like inspirational books that are though provoking and make you question your definition of faith.

I went into this book blind, with no expectations at all, and it did not disappoint. I learned a different lesson from each chapter I read:

This book changed my perspective on the meaning of life and the impact people can have on yours. Who knew five people could change the course of your life so much.

Alix Windle

I went into this book blind, with no expectations at all, and it did not disappoint. I learned a different lesson from each chapter I read:

Nothing is a coincidence; everything happens for a reason. Including the way you die and the lives you save in the process.

Sacrifice is a part of life, don't regret it. There is beauty in sacrifice, no matter how gruesome it can be.

Don't hold onto anger: it will poison you. The only person you will harm is yourself. Forgiveness is a blessing.

Lost love is still love. Even if you lose the person that you love the most. The love continues to linger in the memories. Cherish them.

Don't let anyone tell you who you should be in life. Everyone has a purpose, and only you can decide what that is.

This book changed my perspective on the meaning of life and the impact people can have on yours. Who knew five people could change the course of your life so much.

Killed in a tragic accident, Eddie, an elderly man who believes that he had an uninspired life, awakens in the afterlife, where he discovers that heaven consists of having five people explain the meaning of one's life.

Kirsten Simkiss

This was a very quick read. The language of the book is simple, but not so much so that it made me feel tired of reading below my level of comprehension. I had previously watched the miniseries with my mother, and I felt that the mini-series was very faithful to the book. However, I also felt that the show carried more of an emotional impact than the book did.

I was very pleased that, despite that this is a work of the Christian faith, the author did not preach to the reader. Nothing is worse for me than a preachy book.

I feel like this is a good book for someone of any age, though the scenes of the Vietnam war that occur in parts of the book might be a subject that a child might not understand without explanation. There is a bit of violence, but it isn't at all that way.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

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