The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch

“Just because you’re in the driver’s seat,” he’d say, “doesn’t mean you have to run people over.”

kids— more than anything else—need to know their parents love them.

Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome.

You’ve got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.

“Coach Graham rode you pretty hard, didn’t he?” he said. I could barely muster a “yeah.” “That’s a good thing,” the assistant told me. “When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.”

There’s a lot of talk these days about giving children self-esteem. It’s not something you can give; it’s something they have to build.

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.

(It’s easy to look smart when you’re parroting smart people.)

sometimes, the most impenetrable brick walls are made of flesh.

“Randy, it’s such a shame that people perceive you as being so arrogant, because it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish in life.”

“...The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.

educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective.

Luck is indeed where preparation meets opportunity.