The Last Lecture

The last lecture is the kind of book you read when you need to derive inspiration or when you need someone to just remind you how precious, unpredictable and darn short life is! I know I can find faults with this book like any, but I picked the book fully knowing that this was one man's view of the world. So I will save the criticism this time. I also watched the video on YouTube and I was touched by this man's words. Randy Pausch passed away in July 2008, but I am sure the world will continue to remember him.

This book goes a long way in telling you what life is all about. There are some wonderful quotes in this book, some of which I would love to remember a life-time and re-iterate to my kids.

- When there’s an elephant in the room, introduce him.
- We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
- When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that means they have given up on you.
- I probably got more from that dream and not accomplishing it than I got from any of the ones that I did accomplish. (About one of his dreams)
- You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work.
- Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
- Don’t bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap.
- Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.
- Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.
- Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.
- The best piece of parenting advice I’ve ever heard is from flight attendants. If things get really tough, grab your own oxygen mask first.