Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture (2008)

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We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Randy Pausch
As stated in the book, the First Penguin award went to students who went out on a limb and failed! This came "from the notion that when penguins are about to jump into water that might contain predators, well, somebody's got to be the first penguin." So, even if there are failures, it brings experience. Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.

Randy Pausch
And he (Andy Van Dam) put his arm around my shoulders and we went for a little walk and he said, Randy, it's such a shame that people perceive you as so arrogant. Because it's going to limit what you're going to be able to accomplish in life. What a hell of a way to word "you're being a jerk." [laughter] Right? He doesn't say you're a jerk. He says people are perceiving you this way and he says the downside is it's going to limit what you're going to be able to accomplish.

Randy Pausch
Whatever news we get about the scans, I'm not going to die when we hear it. I won't die the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that. So today, right now, well this is a wonderful day. And I want you to know how much I'm enjoying it. I thought about that, and about Jai's smile. I knew then. That's the way the rest of my life would need to be lived.

Randy Pausch
When you're eight or nine years old and you look at the TV set men are landing on the moon — anything is possible. And that is something we need to not lose sight of, is that the inspiration and permission to dream is immense. … It's important to have specific dreams.

Randy Pausch
Everyone has to contribute to the common good. To not do so can be described in one word: selfish.

Randy Pausch
The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.

Randy Pausch
Anybody out there who is a parent, if your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let them do it. It'll be OK.

Randy Pausch
Never give up: There are certain times that you think, OK, you have beaten me down to my knees. And now the challenge is, I am on my knees and you keep on beating me down. And the question is, are you going to keep beating me all the way to the ground or will I find a way to struggle my way back on to my feet.

Randy Pausch
The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!

Randy Pausch
No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.

Randy Pausch
My dad was so full of life, anything with him was an adventure. [Shows picture of his Dad holding a brown paper bag] I don't know what's in that bag, but I know it's cool. My dad dressed up as Santa Claus, but he also did very, very significant things to help lots of people. This is a dormitory in Thailand that my mom and dad underwrote. And every year about 30 students get to go to school who wouldn't have otherwise. This is something my wife and I have also been involved in heavily. And these are the kind of things that I think everybody ought to be doing. Helping others.

Randy Pausch
Coach Graham use to ride me hard... "you're doing it all wrong! Go back! Do it again!" An assistant coach muttered that it was a good thing Coach Graham rode me hard, because "when you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you."

Randy Pausch
But I want her to grow up knowing that I was the first man ever to fall in love with her. I'd always thought the father/daughter thing was overstated. But I can tell you, sometimes, she looks at me and I just become a puddle.

Randy Pausch
It took me a long time but I finally figured it out: when it comes to men that are romantically interested in you, it's really simple: just ignore everything they say, and only pay attention to what they do. It's that simple. It's that easy.

Randy Pausch
A good apology is like antibiotic, a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Randy Pausch
If I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can't do today.

Randy Pausch
Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. 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.

Randy Pausch
It's interesting, the secrets you decide to reveal at the end of your life.

Randy Pausch
When told by a female colleague about how a girl can pick the right guy, she said... "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."

Randy Pausch
It's very important to know when you're in a pissing match. And it's very important to get out of it as quickly as possible.

Randy Pausch
If nobody ever worried about what was in other people's heads, we'd all be 33 percent more effective in our lives and our jobs.

Randy Pausch
Do not tell people how to live their lives. Just tell them stories. And they will figure out how those stories apply to them.

Randy Pausch
Having been selected to be an author in the World Book, I now believe that Wikipedia is a perfectly fine source for your information, because I know what the quality control is for real encyclopedias — they let me in.

Randy Pausch
We're not going to talk about spirituality and religion. Although I will tell you that I have experienced a deathbed conversion. I just bought a Macintosh.

Randy Pausch