Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

“What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?” (Pg 10)

“An injured lion wants to know if he can still roar. It’s about dignity and self-esteem, which isn’t quite the same as vanity.” (Pg 14)

“This is what it is. We can’t change it. We just have to decide how we’ll respond. We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” (Pg 24)

“If you dispense your own wisdom, others often dismiss it; if you offer wisdom from a third party, it seems less arrogant and more acceptable.” (Pg 30)

“Kids – more than anything else – need to know their parents love them. Their parents don’t have to be alive for that to happen.” (Pg 33)

“That’s a good thing. When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you. (Pg 43)

“You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and went to make you better.” (Pg 44)

“Self-esteem? He knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to develop it: You give them something they can’t do, they wok hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.” (Pg 44)

“Kirk, I mean, Shatner, iwas the ultimate example of a man who knew what he didn’t know, was perfectly willing to admit it, and didn’t want to leave until he understood. That’s heroic to me. I wish every grad student had that attitude.” (Pg 52)

“Tenacity is a virtue, but it’s not always crucial for everyone to observe how hard you work at something.” (Pg 55)

“The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” (Pg 59)

“People are more important than things.” (Pg 77)

“Even fairy-tale moments have risks.” (Pg 89)

“It’s not helpful if we spend every day dreading tomorrow.” (Pg 102)

“It doesn’t matter how well you polish the underside of the banister.” (Pg 111)

“Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.” (Pg 114)

“Luck is indeed where preparation meets opportunity.” (Pg 122)

“When you use money to fight poverty, it can be of great value, but too often, you’re working at the margins. When you’re putting people on the moon, you’re inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved.” (Pg 137)

“I’ve always believed that if you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you’d be surprised by how well things can work out.” (Pg 144)

“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.” (Pg 146)

“If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you.” (Pg 153)

“When it comes to men who are romantically interested in you, it’s really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do.” (Pg 154)

“It’s not how hard you hit. It’s how hard you get hit…and keep moving forward.” (Pg 156)

“Failure is not just acceptable, it’s often essential.” (Pg 157)

“The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblvious to all the pitfalls.” (Pg 158)

“A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.” (Pg 166)

“Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.” (Pg 168)

“When giving an apology, any performance lower than an A really doesn’t cut it.” (Pg 173)

“When we’re connected to others, we become better people.” (Pg 190)