The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch (1960-2008) was a computer-science and human-computer interaction professor at Carnegie Mellon University. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only 3-6 months to live, he gave a now-famous speech in September 2007 called The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams that is available on YouTube. 

I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there’s no other way to play it. 

The lecture was written quickly-in under a week. After being uploaded on YouTube, the talk went viral and Pausch went on to appear on Oprah and write a best-selling book expanding on the lecture topics along with former Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow. As a reminder of how fragile life really is, Pausch’s co-author, Jeffrey Zaslow, died in a car accident, a few years after their book was published. 

Written in a breezy, conversational style with gentle humor, it has great life lessons. Excerpts & memorable quotes -

The brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things. 

Brick walls let us show our dedication.

When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.

When you do the right thing, good stuff has a way of happening.

Don't complain, just work harder

Be good at something: it makes you valuable

Enable the childhood dream of others 

Find the best in everybody; no matter how you have to wait for them to show it

Be prepared. Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity (Seneca).

I think the most important thing I learned as I grew older was that you can't get anywhere without help. That means people have to want to help you, and that begs the question: What kind of person do other people seem to want to help? That strikes me as a pretty good operational answer to the existential question: "What kind of person should you try to be?"

More of his practical advice & observations from the book -

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

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

It's very important to know when you're in a pissing match, and it is very important to get out it as quickly as possible.

Use semantics to phrase answers in a positive light. When we asked, “How long before I die?” he answered, “You probably have three to six months of good health.” That reminded me of my time at Disney. Ask Disney World workers:  “What time does the park close?” They’re supposed to answer: “The  park is open until 8 p.m.”

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

A Dutch uncle refers to a person who gives you honest feedback.

To get somebody to be self-reflective is a great thing