Top 230 Quotes & Sayings by Randy Pausch
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American educator Randy Pausch.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game.
Anyone who knows me well will tell you that arrogance is one of my flaws.
If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.
An injured lion still wants to roar.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Make clear that people understand what your circumstances are. And looking for pity - that's a mistake.
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.
It's hard to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer - people who get it don't live long enough.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
I'm dying, and I'm having fun.
I'm a professor. I know that people in research labs can do miraculous things if they're given the resources.
I've said my piece. My time now is entirely focused on family.
I've never understood pity and self-pity as an emotion.
I always thought every day was a gift, but now I am looking for where to send the thank you note.
There's nothing about my life that I would have changed.
I will take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short-term, earnest is long-term.
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.
If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it.
I am dying soon, and I am choosing to have fun today, tomorrow and every other day I have 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.
Never lose the childlike wonder. Show gratitude... Don't complain; just work harder... Never give up.
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.
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.
My mother took great relish in introducing me as 'This is my son - he's a doctor but not the kind that helps people.'
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.'
We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn't matter. Life is to be lived.
I didn't know there was a dying-professor section at the bookstore.
We don't beat the reaper by living longer, we beat the reaper by living well and living fully.
Success is measured in months for me. When my health fails, it will fail quickly. Tumors grow on an exponential curve.
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.
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.
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.
Fuel your kids' dreams. Sometimes, that means letting them stay up past their bedtimes.
Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you.
Cancer didn't change me at all. I know lots of people talk about the life revelation. I didn't have that.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'm attempting to put myself in a bottle that will one day wash up on the beach for my children.
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.
The size of your audience doesn't matter. What's important is that your audience is listening.
When we're connected to others, we become better people.
It is not the things we do in life that we regret on our death bed. It is the things we do not.
Follow your passions, believe in karma, and you won't have to chase your dreams, they will come to 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. 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.
Better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre.
Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.
Be willing to apologize. Proper apologies have three parts: 1) What I did was wrong. 2) I'm sorry that I hurt you. 3) How do I make it better? It's the third part that people tend to forget. Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.
The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.
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