Best 126 quotes of Randy Pausch on MyQuotes

Advice is very easy to give, and even easier not to follow, so I don't fool with it.

And even though I did not reach the National Football League, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.

Anybody can get chewed out. It's the rare person who says, oh my god, you were right. As opposed to, no wait, the reason is... We've all heard that

Anybody out there who is a parent, if your kids want to paint their bedrooms,as a favor to me, let them do it. It'll be OK.

A parent's job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their own dreams. The best we can do is to help thm develop a personal set of tools for the task.

Apologies are not pass/fail.

Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.

Because you’re such a good salesman, and if you go work for a company, they’re going to use you as a salesman. If you’re going to be a salesman, you might as well be selling something worthwhile, like education

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

Be good at something. It makes you valuable.

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

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.

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

Brick walls are there for reason. And once you get over them-- even if someone has practically had to throw you over-- it can be helpful to others to tell them how you did it.

Brick walls let us prove how badly we want our dream and they stop those who don't want it enough. Brick walls let us show our dedication.

But I want her to grow up knowing that I was the first man ever to fall in love with her. I'd always thought the father/daughter thing was overstated. But I can tell you, sometimes, she looks at me and I just become a puddle.

Call home at least once a week. It's a proven fact that we call home less the older we get. And that's wrong. It should be the other way around. As we get older, our parents get older.

Complaining does not work as a strategy.

Don't bail; the best pieces of gold are at the bottom of the barrel of crap.

Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you on the surface.

Education best serves students by helping them be more self-reflective.

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?

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

Everyone has to contribute to the common good. To not do so can be described in one word: selfish.

Experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.

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

Find your passion and follow it. You wont find that passion in things or money. Your passion must come from what fuels you from the inside. It will be grounded in the relationships you have with people and what they think of you when your time comes.

Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work.

Get a feedback loop and listen to it... When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.

He had high hopes for society, and though his hopes were too often dashed, he remained a raging optimist.

I also think my dad would be reminding me that kids — more than anything else — need to know their parents love them. Their parents don't have to be alive for that to happen.

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

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’d compare college tuition to paying for a personal trainer at an athletic club. We professors play the roles of trainers, giving people access to the equipment (books, labs, our expertise) and after that, it is our job to be demanding.

I don't believe in the no-win scenario

I don't suffer from an abundance of politeness.

I feel like I'm waiting on something that isn't going to happen Don't complain; just work harder.

If I was able to tell my story with the passion I felt, my lecture might help others find a path to fulfilling their own dreams.

If nobody ever worried about what was in other people's heads, we’d all be 33 percent more effective in our lives and our jobs.

If she doesn't really love you, then it's over. And if she does love you, then love will win out.

If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

If you can find your footing between two cultures, sometimes you can have the best of both worlds.

If you’re going to have childhood dreams you should have great parents who let you pursue them and express your creativity

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

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

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

I'm a professor - there should be some lessons learned - and how you can use the stuff you hear today to enable your dreams or enable the dreams of others. And as you get older you may find that enabling-the-dreams-of-others thing is even more fun.

I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left.

I'm dying, and I'm having fun.

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