Randy Pausch Quotes

The questions are always more important than the answers.

We keep what is valuable to us, what we cherish.

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

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

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.

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

The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures.

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.

No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.

Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.

No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse. At the same time, it is often within your power to make them better

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

People are more important than things.

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

If I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can't do today.

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

Look, I'm going to find a way to be happy, and I'd really love to be happy with you, but if I can't be happy with you, then I'll find a way to be happy without you.

You will need to find your passion. Don't give up on finding it because then all you're doing is waiting for the Reaper.

The number one goal of teachers should be to help students learn how to learn.

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

Believe nothing a man tells you and everything he shows you

I've always admired people who are over-prepared.

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

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

Be good at something. It makes you valuable.

Want to have a short phone call with someone? Call them at 11:55 a.m., right before lunch. They'll talk fast. You may think you are interesting, but you are not more interesting than lunch.

Never make a decision until you have to.

The size of your audience doesn't matter. What's important is that your audience is listening.

Just because you're in the driver's seat, doesn't mean you have to run people over.

Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.

When you do the right thing, good stuff has a way of happening.

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

Look for the best in everybody

Respect authority while questioning it.

Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.

If you have a question, then find the answer.

Show gratitude. Gratitude is a simple but powerful thing.

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.

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

The best way to teach somebody something is to have them think they're learning something else.

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

Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes.

We've placed a lot of emphasis in this country on the idea of people's rights. That's how it should be, but it makes no sense to talk about rights without also talking about responsibilities.

There are more ways than one to measure profits and losses.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. If I don’t seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.

An injured lion wants to know if he can still roar.

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

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.

Luck is indeed where preparation meets opportunity.

There are respectful, considerate things that can be done in life that will be appreciated by the recipient, and only good things can result.