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Randy Pausch Quotes

1960–2008 United States

Dr. Randy Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and a best-selling author, who achieved worldwide fame for his speech The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon University, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and having only a few months to live.

United States
Academics
Computer scientists
Educators
Scientists

Also known as: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, The Last Lecture

Random Randy Pausch quote

70 quotes

You obviously don't know where the bar should be, and you're only going to do a disservice by putting it anywhere.

The Last Lecture (2007)

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."

The Last Lecture (2008)

Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.

The Last Lecture (2007)

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

The Last Lecture (2008)

You get people to help you by telling the truth; by being earnest. I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short-term, earnest is long term.

The Last Lecture (2007)

Being successful doesn’t make you manage your time well. Managing your time well makes you successful!

Time Management (2007)

When you do something young enough and you train for it, it just becomes a part of you.

The Last Lecture (2007)

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

The Last Lecture (2007)

Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

I think he's absolutely right on that one.

The Last Lecture (2007)

Turn money into time – especially important for people with kids.

Time Management (2007)

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

The Last Lecture (2008)

Time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think."

The Last Lecture (2008)

You don’t find time for important things, you make it.

Time Management (2007)

Never lose the child-like wonder. It's just too important. It's what drives us.

The Last Lecture (2007)

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.

The Last Lecture (2007)

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

CMU Graduation speech (2008)

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.

The Last Lecture (2008)

And as you get older you may find that enabling-the-dreams-of-others thing is even more fun.

The Last Lecture (2007)

Your passion must come from the things that fuel you from the inside.

CMU Graduation speech (2008)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Randy Pausch (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.