Randy Pausch Quotations

Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

I've never understood pity and self-pity as an emotion.

You can't get there alone. People have to help you, and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth, by being earnest.

The particular way I'm going to die is not going to be particularly pleasant. It will probably be physically uncomfortable, and it won't be an easy thing for my wife and kids to watch. I think it will be a real challenge to see if I can squeeze the lemons hard enough to still get lemonade the last few weeks.

The metaphor I've used is... somebody's going to push my family off a cliff pretty soon, and I won't be there to catch them. And that breaks my heart. But I have some time to sew some nets to cushion the fall. So, I can curl up in a ball and cry, or I can get to work on the nets.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game.

I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.

I'm hanging in there, trying to spend as much quality time with my wife and kids as possible, and though it's very frustrating to know I won't beat the cancer, there's a great satisfaction in knowing that I'm walking off the field with no regrets.

If you are hopeful, if you are optimistic, other people want to help you. And if you are down in the dumps, other people may still help you, but I've noticed that they're walking, not running, over to you.

I think the only advice I can give you on how to live your life well is, first off, remember... it's not the things we do in life that we regret on our deathbed, it is the things we do not.

If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.

Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren't there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things.

Never lose the childlike wonder. Show gratitude... Don't complain; just work harder... Never give up.

Work hard. I got tenure a year early. Junior faculty members used to say to me: 'Wow, what's your secret?' I said: 'It's pretty simple. Call me any Friday night in my office at 10 o'clock, and I'll tell you.'

I always thought every day was a gift, but now I am looking for where to send the thank you note.

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've got left.

When men are romantically interested in you, it's really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do.

Are you a fun-loving Tigger or a sad-sack Eeyore? Pick a camp. I think it's clear where I stand on the great Tigger/Eeyore debate!

Chemo days make me tired, though it's hard to say that's because of the chemo when you have kids who have inherited their dad's usual energy level.

Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.

Smelling a crayon takes you right back to childhood. When I need to go back in time, I put it under my nose and take another hit.

There's an academic tradition called the 'Last Lecture.' Hypothetically, if you knew you were going to die and you had one last lecture, what would you say to your students? Well, for me, there's an elephant in the room. And the elephant in the room, for me, it wasn't hypothetical.

Cancer didn't change me at all. I know lots of people talk about the life revelation. I didn't have that.

I've decided to tell my kids things like: 'I love the way each of you tilted back your heads when you laughed.' I will give them specific stuff they can grasp.

We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn't matter. Life is to be lived.

Educators shouldn't be afraid of cliches. You know why? Because kids don't know most of them! They're a new audience. And they're inspired by cliches.

Fuel your kids' dreams. Sometimes, that means letting them stay up past their bedtimes.

It's hard to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer - people who get it don't live long enough.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you that arrogance is one of my flaws.

We don't beat the reaper by living longer, we beat the reaper by living well and living fully.

I'm attempting to put myself in a bottle that will one day wash up on the beach for my children.

Make clear that people understand what your circumstances are. And looking for pity - that's a mistake.

Pretty much any time I got a chance to do something cool, I tried to grab for it, and that's where my solace comes from.

If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, 'Tell the truth.' If I got three more words, I'd add: 'All the time.'

I'm a professor. I know that people in research labs can do miraculous things if they're given the resources.

I will take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short-term, earnest is long-term.

I am dying soon, and I am choosing to have fun today, tomorrow and every other day I have left.

I didn't know there was a dying-professor section at the bookstore.

I've said my piece. My time now is entirely focused on family.

If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it.

Success is measured in months for me. When my health fails, it will fail quickly. Tumors grow on an exponential curve.

There's nothing about my life that I would have changed.

I played in football games where you walk off the field and the scoreboard didn't end up the way you wanted. But you knew that you really did give it all. And the other team was too strong.

I'm not going to beat the cancer. I tried really hard... but sometimes you're just not going to beat the thing... I wanted to walk off the stage and say anything I thought was important; I had my hour.

My mother took great relish in introducing me as 'This is my son - he's a doctor but not the kind that helps people.'

I think that we all stand on the dartboard of life. Roughly 30,000 people a year are going to catch a dart labeled pancreatic cancer, and that's unfortunate. It's not what I would have chosen. But I in no way feel like I deserved it.

When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a very bad place to be. Your critics are the ones telling you they still love you and care.

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?

The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.

Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.

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.

If you have a question, then find the answer.

It is not the things we do in life that we regret on our death bed. It is the things we do not.

Do not tell people how to live their lives. Just tell them stories and they will figure out how those stories apply to them.

When we're connected to others, we become better people.

Another way to be prepared is to think negatively. 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? One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist, is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose. There are a lot of things I don't worry about, because I have a plan in place if they do.

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.

We don't beat the reaper by living longer, but by living well, and living fully - for the reaper will come for all of us. The question is: what do we do between the time we're born and the time he shows up.

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.

Never give up: There are certain times that you think, 'OK, you have beaten me down to my knees. And now the challenge is, I am on my knees and you keep on beating me down. And the question is, are you going to keep beating me all the way to the ground or will I find a way to struggle my way back on to my feet.

The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblivious to all the pitfalls.

When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you.

If you want something bad enough, never give up (and take a boost when offered).

I'm sorry. It's my fault. How do I make it right?

Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.

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.

Find the best in everybody. Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you. It might even take years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting.

Don’t complain; just work harder.

Never make a decesion until you have to". He'd also warn me that even if I was in a position of strenght, whether at work or in a relationship, I had to play fair. "Just because you're in the driver's seat, doesn't mean you have to run people over.

Follow your passions, believe in karma, and you won't have to chase your dreams, they will come to you.

You can always change you plan, but only if you have one.

There's a limit to how many times you can read how great you are and what an inspiration you are, but I'm not there yet.

Its important to have specific dreams. Dream Big. Dream without fear.

Believe nothing a man tells you and everything he shows you

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

Sometimes you can't pay it back, so you just have to pay it forward.

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.

We keep what is valuable to us, what we cherish.

Anything is possible, and that’s something we should not lose sight of. The inspiration and the permission to dream is huge.

Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress. When you're pissed off at someone and you're angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time. Just give them a little more time and they almost always will impress you.

educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective. The only way any of us can improve—as Coach Graham taught me—is if we develop a real ability to assess ourselves. If we can’t accurately do that, how can we tell if we’re getting better or worse?

A good apology is like antibiotic, a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Walls aren't put in our life to stop us, they are there to test how much we really want somthing.

Never lose the child like wonder. It’s just too important. It’s what drives us. Help others.

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

Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I've always believed that if you took one tenth the enrgy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out.

When there’s an elephant in the room introduce him.

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.

Engineering isn't about perfect solutions; it's about doing the best you can with limited resources.

Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.

It's not how hard you hit. It's how hard you get hit...and keep moving forward.

Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome.

There are more ways than one to measure profits and losses.

The questions are always more important than the answers.

Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.

If I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can't do today.

Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes.

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.