Randolph Frederick “Randy” Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was an American professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pausch discovered he had pancreatic cancer in September 2006, and in August 2007 he was given a terminal diagnosis.
On September 18, 2007, he gave a lecture full of inspirational life lessons titled “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams“, which became popular on YouTube (watch the video of the “Last Lecture” here). He then co-authored a book called The Last Lecture on the same theme. According to the New York Times “As the video of his lecture spread across the Web and was translated into many languages, Dr. Pausch (…) became a deeply personal friend, wise, understanding and humorous, to many he never met”.
Here are a few suggestions from his lectures:
– We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. If I do not seem as depressed or morose as I should be, I am sorry to disappoint you.
– 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 do not want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!
– Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you. When you are angry at somebody, you just have not given them enough time. Just give them a little more time — and they will almost always impress you.
– Being successful does not make you manage your time well. Managing your time well makes you successful!
– Delegation: No one is an island. You can accomplish a lot more with help.
Read more quotations here.
Image source: http://bit.ly/PIeDHG – image by xjki (License CC BY-NC 2.0)
Posted by: Vincenzo Savina
Find the time to follow the link to more quotes – this is very valuable stuff and we can all benefit from thinking about such serious matters.