Randy Pausch died in mid 2008, but he left us with so much wisdom and insight. His “Last Lecture” became a YouTube hit and he co-authored a book by the same name. I’ve watched the video countless times and every time I hear it, I learn something new… Here are a few quotes from that lecture.
“Remember, 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. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough; they’re there to stop the other people. Remember brick walls let us show our dedication. They are there to separate us from the people who don’t really want to achieve their childhood dreams. Don’t bail. The best of the gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap.”
“Sylvia gave the best piece of advice pound-for-pound that I have ever heard. And I think all young ladies should hear this. Syl said, ‘it took me a long time but I’ve 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.’ And I thought back to my bachelor days and I said, ‘damn’.”
“If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.”
“Get a feedback and listen to it. Your feedback can just be one great man who tells you what you need to hear. The hard part is the listening to it. Anybody can get chewed out. It’s the rare person who says, oh my God, you were right. As opposed to, ‘no wait, the real reason is…’ We’ve all heard that. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.”
“So my next piece of advice is, you just have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore. I think I’m clear where I stand on the great Tigger / Eeyore debate. Never lose the childlike wonder. It’s just too important. It’s what drives us.”
“Be good at something, it makes you valuable.”
“Work hard. I got tenure a year early. Junior faculty members used to say to me, wow, you got tenure early. What’s your secret? I said, it’s pretty simple. Call my any Friday night in my office at ten o’clock and I’ll tell you.”
“‘please tell them about having fun, because that’s what I remember you for.’ And I said I can do that, but it’s kind of like a fish talking about the importance of water. I mean I don’t know how to not have fun. I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there’s no other way to play it.”
Here is a transcript of the entire lecture. It’s long, but well worth the read: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf
whatever life throws at me... 