Best Of Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture"

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

My colleague told me: "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."

p. 146

Start-up companies often prefer to hire a chief executive with a failed start-up in his or her background. 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.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.

p. 149

I usually didn't notice how I was coming off, in part because things seemed to be working out and I was succeeding academically. Andy van Dam, the school's legendary computer science professor, made me his teaching assistant. "Andy van Demand," as he was known, liked me. I was impassioned about so many things—a good trait. But like many people, I had strengths that were also flaws. In Andy's view, I was self-possessed to a fault, I was way too brash and I was an inflexible contrarian, always spouting opinions.

One day Andy took me for a walk. He put his arm around my shoulders and said, "Randy, it's such a shame that people perceive you as being so arrogant, because it's going to limit what you're going to be able to accomplish in life." Looking back, his wording was so perfect. He was essentially saying "Randy, you're being a jerk." But he said it in a way that made me open to his criticisms […]There is an old expression, "a Dutch uncle," which refers to a person who gives you honest feedback. Few people bother doing that nowadays, so the expression has started to feel outdated, even obscure. (And the best part is that Andy really is Dutch.)

p. 67-68

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. […] My dad had created a new set of communitarians. He knew when we're connected to others, we become better people.

p. 175

I heard from a man in his early forties with serious heart problems. He wrote to tell me about Krishnamurti, a spiritual leader in India who died in 1986. Krishnamurti was once asked 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. Wherever he goes, you also go. He will not be alone." In his email to me, this man was reassuring: "I know you are not alone."

p. 185