The Last Lecture Quotes

“One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“I’ve never understood pity and self-pity as an emotion. We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn’t matter. Life is to be lived.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore that means they’ve given up on you…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 want to make you better.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Randy Pausch on time management:
Here's what I know:
Time must be explicitly managed, like money.
You can always change your plan, but only if you have one.
Ask yourself: Are you spending your time on the right things?
Develop a good filing system.
Rethink the telephone.
Delegate.
Take a time out.

Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Want to have a short phone call with someone? Call them at 11:55 a.m., right before lunch. They'll talk fast. You may think you are interesting, but you are not more interesting than lunch.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“If I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can't do today.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“We've placed a lot of emphasis in this country on the idea of people's rights. That's how it should be, but it makes no sense to talk about rights without also talking about responsibilities.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Never make a decision until you have to.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“I was hugely impressed... was 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.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“I've always admired people who are over-prepared.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Engineering isn't about perfect solutions; it's about doing the best you can with limited resources.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Not everything needs to be fixed.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Throughout my academic career, I'd given some pretty good talks. But being considered the best speaker in the computer science department is like being known as the tallest of the Seven Dwarfs.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Proper apologies have three parts:

1) What I did was wrong.
2) I feel badly that I hurt you.
3) How do I make this better?”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted .”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“there should be some lessons learned and how you can use the stuff you hear today to achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others. And as you get older, you may find that “enabling the dreams of others” thing is even more fun.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“It's not about the cards you're dealt, but how you play the hand.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“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, sorry to disappoint you.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Just because you're in the driver's seat, doesn't mean you have to run people over.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“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, it means they've given up on you.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Complaining does not work as a strategy. ”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“What is the most appropriate thing to say to a friend who was about to die. He answered:”tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. Whenever he goes, you also g. He will not be alone".”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse. At the same time, it is often within your power to make them better”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“No job should, be beneath us. And if you can't(or won't) sort mail, Where is the proof that you can do anything?”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“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, The Last Lecture

“Kids need to know their parents love them. Their parents don’t need to be alive for that to happen.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“You've got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Focus on other people, not on yourself.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture