My FavoritE QuoteS FroM ThE LasT LecturE!!!!
This book along with the last lecture that Randy Pausch gave at Carnegie University, is TOTALLY worth reading. There are so many valuable lessons to be learned from it. I never want to forget the words of wisdom that were included in it. Hence, I am including all of the quotes from it in this blog entry- quotes which greatly impacted me. Randy Pausch, though I never knew you, you have affected my life and blessed it for the better. You have left a legacy that I am sure will continue to impact people for years to come.
"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
~Randy Pausch
"My Dad always taught me that when there's an elephant in the room, introduce it."
~Randy Pausch
"...When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you."
~Randy Pausch's assistant football coach
"That lesson has stuck with me my whole life. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a bad place to be. 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
"And even though I did not reach the National Football League, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish."
~Randy Pausch
"Just because you're in the driver's seat doesn't mean you have to run people over."
Randy Pausch's Dad (about playing fair in life)
"There are two kinds of head fakes. The first is literal. On a football field, a player will move his head one way so you'll think he's going in that direction. Then he goes the opposite way. It's like a magician using misdirection. Coach Graham used to tell us to watch a player's waist. 'Where his belly button goes, his body goes,' he'd say.
The second kind of head fake is the really important one--the one that teaches people things they don't realize they're learning until well into the process..."
~Randy Pausch
"Leaving the doctor's office, I thought about what I'd said to Jai in the water park in the afterglow of the speed slide. 'Even if the scan results are bad tomorrow,' I had told her, 'I just want you to know that it feels great to be alive, and to be here today, alive with you. 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."
~Randy Pausch
"No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse."
~Randy Pausch
"...Our attitude was, 'Let's saddle up and ride."
~Randy Pausch
"It's not helpful if we spend every day dreading tomorrow."
Jai Pausch
Randy Pausch's Time Management Tips:
1. Time must be explicitly managed, like money. "It doesn't matter how well you polish the underside of the banister."
2. You can always change your plan, but only if you have one. "I'm a big believer in to-do lists."
3. Ask yourself: Are you spending your time on the right things?
4. Develop a good filing system. "Filing in alphabetical order is better than running around and saying, 'I know it was blue and I know I was eating something when I had it.'"
5. Rethink the telephone. "I always use a speaker phone, so my hands are free to do something else."
6. Delegate. "It's never too early to delegate."
7. Take a time out. "It's not a real vacation if you're reading email or calling in for messages."
"Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think."
~Randy Pausch
"I'm a recovering jerk. And that gives me the moral authority to tell you that you can be a recovering jerk too."
~Randy Pausch
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
~Seneca, Roman Philosopher
The Remaining Chapters in the book:
28.) Dream Big- "Men first walked on the moon during the summer of 1969, when I was eight years old. I knew then that pretty much anything was possible. It was as if all of us, all over the world, had been given permission to dream big dreams... Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams too."
29.) Earnest is Better Than Hip- "I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term. Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface."
30.) Raising the White Flag- "Somehow, with the passage of time, and the deadliness that life imposes, surrendering became the right thing to do." (about his Mom calling him Randolph)
32.) Don't Complain, Just Work Harder- "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... 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."
35.) Start by Sitting Together- "Tips for Working Successfully in a Group: 1. Meet people properly; 2. Find things you have in common; 3. Try for optimal meeting conditions; 4. Let everyone talk; 5. Check egos at the door; 6. Praise each other; 7. Phrase alternatives as questions
36.) Look For the Best in Everybody- "If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you... When you're frustrated with people, when they've made you angry, it just may be because you haven't given them enough time... But in the end, people will show you their good side. Almost everybody has a good side. Just keep waiting. It will come out." ~Jon Snoddy
37.) Watch What They Do, Not What They Say- "It took a long time, but I've finally figured it out. 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. It's that simple. It's that easy." ~Randy Pausch's colleague
38.) If At First You Don't Succeed..."- "Dance with the one who brung you" (cliche about loyalty and appreciation); "Whether you think you can or can't, you're right." ~Randy Pausch
39.) Be the First Penguin- "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." "The title of the [First Penguin] award 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." (He originally called it "The Best Failure Award," but the word, failure has a negative connotation so he changed it to the First Penguin award).
40.) Get People's Attention- "That's always the first step to solving an ignored problem."
41.) The Lost Art of Thank-You Notes- "Despite all that is now going on in my life and with my medical care, I still try to handwrite notes when it's important to do so. It's just the nice thing to do. And you never know what magic might happen after it arrives in someone's mailbox."
42.) Loyalty is a Two-Way Street- "I enabled Dennis' dream way back when he needed it... and now that I need it, he is enabling mine." (In reference to sticking up for his student- i.e. preventing him from being expelled. That very student was helping him to achieve his dream of the program, Alice spreading across the nation).
44.) Show Gratitude- "Not long after I got tenure at the University of Virginia, I took my entire fifteen-person research team down to Disney World for a week as my way of saying thank you...I always liked telling my students: 'Go out and do for others what somebody did for you."
46.) All You Have is What You Bring With You- "Yes, I'm a great optimist. But when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst-case scenario. I call it 'The Eaten By Wolves Factor.' If I do something, what's the most terrible thing that could happen? Would I be eaten by wolves?" "When you go into the wilderness, the only thing you can count on is what you take with you. And essentially, the wilderness is anywhere but your home or office. So take money. Bring your repair kit. Imagine the wolves. Pack a light bulb. Be prepared."
47.) A Bad Apology is Worse Than No Apology- "When giving an apology, any performance lower than an A really doesn't cut it... A good apology is like an antibiotic; a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound... 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?"
48.) Tell the Truth- "Tell the truth all the time... My parents taught me that 'you're only as good as your word' and there's no better way to say it."
49.) Get in Touch with Your Crayon Box- "My plan [at my last lecture] was this: As I spoke about childhood dreams, I'd ask everyone to close their eyes and rub their crayons in their fingers-- to feel the texture, the paper, the wax. Then I'd have them bring their crayons up to their noses and take a good long whiff. Smelling a crayon takes you right back to your childhood, doesn't it?"
51.) No Job is Beneath You- "You ought to be thrilled you got a job in the mail room. And when you get there, here's what you do: Be really great at sorting mail."
53.) Never Give Up- "...If you want something bad enough, never give up (and take a boost when offered). Brick walls are there for a reason. And once you get over them-- even if someone has practically had to throw you over-- it can be helpful to others to tell them how you did it."
54.) Be a Communitarian- "Rights have to come from somewhere, and they come from the community. In return, all of us have a responsibility to the community. Some people call this the 'communitarian' movement, but I call it common sense."
55.) All You Have to Do Is Ask- Sometimes, all you have to do is ask, and it can lead to all your dreams coming true... Ask those questions. Just ask them. More often than you'd suspect, the answer you'll get is, 'Sure.'"
56.) Make a Decision: Tigger or Eeyore- "...I don't know how not to 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... Each of us must decide: Am I a fun-loving Tigger or am I a sad-sack Eeyore? Pick a camp. I think it's clear where I stand on the great Tigger/Eeyore debate... I won't let go of the Tigger inside me. I just can't see the upside in becoming Eeyore."
"So today's talk was about achieving childhood dreams, but did you figure out the head fake? It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you... Have you figured out the second head fake? The talk wasn't just for those in the room. It was for my kids."
~Randy Pausch
"Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome."
~Randy Pausch
"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."
~Randy Pausch
"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
~Randy Pausch
"My Dad always taught me that when there's an elephant in the room, introduce it."
~Randy Pausch
"...When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you."
~Randy Pausch's assistant football coach
"That lesson has stuck with me my whole life. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a bad place to be. 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
"And even though I did not reach the National Football League, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish."
~Randy Pausch
"Just because you're in the driver's seat doesn't mean you have to run people over."
Randy Pausch's Dad (about playing fair in life)
"There are two kinds of head fakes. The first is literal. On a football field, a player will move his head one way so you'll think he's going in that direction. Then he goes the opposite way. It's like a magician using misdirection. Coach Graham used to tell us to watch a player's waist. 'Where his belly button goes, his body goes,' he'd say.
The second kind of head fake is the really important one--the one that teaches people things they don't realize they're learning until well into the process..."
~Randy Pausch
"Leaving the doctor's office, I thought about what I'd said to Jai in the water park in the afterglow of the speed slide. 'Even if the scan results are bad tomorrow,' I had told her, 'I just want you to know that it feels great to be alive, and to be here today, alive with you. 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."
~Randy Pausch
"No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse."
~Randy Pausch
"...Our attitude was, 'Let's saddle up and ride."
~Randy Pausch
"It's not helpful if we spend every day dreading tomorrow."
Jai Pausch
Randy Pausch's Time Management Tips:
1. Time must be explicitly managed, like money. "It doesn't matter how well you polish the underside of the banister."
2. You can always change your plan, but only if you have one. "I'm a big believer in to-do lists."
3. Ask yourself: Are you spending your time on the right things?
4. Develop a good filing system. "Filing in alphabetical order is better than running around and saying, 'I know it was blue and I know I was eating something when I had it.'"
5. Rethink the telephone. "I always use a speaker phone, so my hands are free to do something else."
6. Delegate. "It's never too early to delegate."
7. Take a time out. "It's not a real vacation if you're reading email or calling in for messages."
"Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think."
~Randy Pausch
"I'm a recovering jerk. And that gives me the moral authority to tell you that you can be a recovering jerk too."
~Randy Pausch
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
~Seneca, Roman Philosopher
The Remaining Chapters in the book:
28.) Dream Big- "Men first walked on the moon during the summer of 1969, when I was eight years old. I knew then that pretty much anything was possible. It was as if all of us, all over the world, had been given permission to dream big dreams... Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams too."
29.) Earnest is Better Than Hip- "I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term. Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface."
30.) Raising the White Flag- "Somehow, with the passage of time, and the deadliness that life imposes, surrendering became the right thing to do." (about his Mom calling him Randolph)
32.) Don't Complain, Just Work Harder- "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... 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."
35.) Start by Sitting Together- "Tips for Working Successfully in a Group: 1. Meet people properly; 2. Find things you have in common; 3. Try for optimal meeting conditions; 4. Let everyone talk; 5. Check egos at the door; 6. Praise each other; 7. Phrase alternatives as questions
36.) Look For the Best in Everybody- "If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you... When you're frustrated with people, when they've made you angry, it just may be because you haven't given them enough time... But in the end, people will show you their good side. Almost everybody has a good side. Just keep waiting. It will come out." ~Jon Snoddy
37.) Watch What They Do, Not What They Say- "It took a long time, but I've finally figured it out. 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. It's that simple. It's that easy." ~Randy Pausch's colleague
38.) If At First You Don't Succeed..."- "Dance with the one who brung you" (cliche about loyalty and appreciation); "Whether you think you can or can't, you're right." ~Randy Pausch
39.) Be the First Penguin- "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." "The title of the [First Penguin] award 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." (He originally called it "The Best Failure Award," but the word, failure has a negative connotation so he changed it to the First Penguin award).
40.) Get People's Attention- "That's always the first step to solving an ignored problem."
41.) The Lost Art of Thank-You Notes- "Despite all that is now going on in my life and with my medical care, I still try to handwrite notes when it's important to do so. It's just the nice thing to do. And you never know what magic might happen after it arrives in someone's mailbox."
42.) Loyalty is a Two-Way Street- "I enabled Dennis' dream way back when he needed it... and now that I need it, he is enabling mine." (In reference to sticking up for his student- i.e. preventing him from being expelled. That very student was helping him to achieve his dream of the program, Alice spreading across the nation).
44.) Show Gratitude- "Not long after I got tenure at the University of Virginia, I took my entire fifteen-person research team down to Disney World for a week as my way of saying thank you...I always liked telling my students: 'Go out and do for others what somebody did for you."
46.) All You Have is What You Bring With You- "Yes, I'm a great optimist. But when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst-case scenario. I call it 'The Eaten By Wolves Factor.' If I do something, what's the most terrible thing that could happen? Would I be eaten by wolves?" "When you go into the wilderness, the only thing you can count on is what you take with you. And essentially, the wilderness is anywhere but your home or office. So take money. Bring your repair kit. Imagine the wolves. Pack a light bulb. Be prepared."
47.) A Bad Apology is Worse Than No Apology- "When giving an apology, any performance lower than an A really doesn't cut it... A good apology is like an antibiotic; a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound... 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?"
48.) Tell the Truth- "Tell the truth all the time... My parents taught me that 'you're only as good as your word' and there's no better way to say it."
49.) Get in Touch with Your Crayon Box- "My plan [at my last lecture] was this: As I spoke about childhood dreams, I'd ask everyone to close their eyes and rub their crayons in their fingers-- to feel the texture, the paper, the wax. Then I'd have them bring their crayons up to their noses and take a good long whiff. Smelling a crayon takes you right back to your childhood, doesn't it?"
51.) No Job is Beneath You- "You ought to be thrilled you got a job in the mail room. And when you get there, here's what you do: Be really great at sorting mail."
53.) Never Give Up- "...If you want something bad enough, never give up (and take a boost when offered). Brick walls are there for a reason. And once you get over them-- even if someone has practically had to throw you over-- it can be helpful to others to tell them how you did it."
54.) Be a Communitarian- "Rights have to come from somewhere, and they come from the community. In return, all of us have a responsibility to the community. Some people call this the 'communitarian' movement, but I call it common sense."
55.) All You Have to Do Is Ask- Sometimes, all you have to do is ask, and it can lead to all your dreams coming true... Ask those questions. Just ask them. More often than you'd suspect, the answer you'll get is, 'Sure.'"
56.) Make a Decision: Tigger or Eeyore- "...I don't know how not to 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... Each of us must decide: Am I a fun-loving Tigger or am I a sad-sack Eeyore? Pick a camp. I think it's clear where I stand on the great Tigger/Eeyore debate... I won't let go of the Tigger inside me. I just can't see the upside in becoming Eeyore."
"So today's talk was about achieving childhood dreams, but did you figure out the head fake? It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you... Have you figured out the second head fake? The talk wasn't just for those in the room. It was for my kids."
~Randy Pausch
"Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome."
~Randy Pausch
"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."
~Randy Pausch
Labels: inspirational thoughts, quotes, Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
posted by Stephanie @ 7:20 PM
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