The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch, is the only book that I’ve ever read at least twice in full. It’s moving and inspiring, and will really encourage you to live every day to the fullest. There are so many life lessons to be learned, and this book has it all in a nutshell. (Also, for those of you that dislike reading, this is an easy yet fulfilling read!) That said, if you haven’t yet read The Last Lecture, I highly recommend that you do. Here are ten of countless quotes that are extremely relevant to our lives, which will hopefully further encourage you to read the book.
1. “When it comes to men who are romantically interested in you, it’s really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do.”
We’ve all heard the saying: “actions speak louder than words.” In the case of love, this is particularly important because everyone has a different manner of portraying love verbally, but love through actions is quite universal. Pay attention not to whether he says “I love you,” but rather to how he treats not only you, as well as others.
2. “Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I've always believed that if you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out.”
I know. It’s hard not to complain when things don’t work out. I’ve been there too. But it’s important to realize that if we want to move forward smoothly, we must focus on fixing the problem rather than letting the problem stop us in our tracks.
3. “A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.”
Life is hard, and sometimes we just want to take the easy way out. But often, the easy way out doesn’t lie in our best interests. Working hard, in the end, pays off.
4. “Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore?”
Take a minute to reflect upon yourself. Does your perspective mirror that of Tigger, the optimist, or Eeyore, the pessimist? Figure that out, and then you’ll have an idea of how your perspective may need to be adjusted for the sake of your own happiness. (I know; it’s not as easy as it sounds.)
5. “The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblivious to all the pitfalls.”
Don’t let failure bring you down. Everyone fails at one point or another. Rather than letting your failures get the best of you, take the chance to learn from them. Failure will, ultimately, help you grow.
6. “Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.”
The lesson here is important: you can’t help others unless you help yourself first. If there’s a deadly fire and you focus on dragging others from the depths of the fire to safety rather than getting yourself to safety first, chances are you’re going to end up injured in one way or another, which means that you’ll no longer be able to lend a hand.
7. “If you can find your footing between two cultures, sometimes you can have the best of both worlds.”
Our country is diverse. Our population is multicultural. Most of the time, we let our differences in culture come between us so that we are no longer united. We need to reunite so that we can learn from each other.
8. “When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you any more, that's a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.”
It doesn’t always seem this way, but someone (be it a teacher, coach, etc.) is telling you that you’re not quite there yet, it doesn’t mean that he/she has given up on you or that he/she doesn’t believe in you. In fact, it means quite the opposite–it means that he/she still cares.
9. “Halfhearted or insincere apologies are often worse than not apologizing at all because recipients find them insulting. If you've done something wrong in your dealings with another person, it's as if there's an infection in your relationship. A good apology is like an antibiotic; a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound.”
This is pretty self-explanatory...if you’ve done somebody wrong, you owe them a sincere apology. It’s okay to wait a while if you’re not quite ready to make that move. Saying something like “I’m sorry you got mad” probably won’t do you any good.
10. “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.”
Obstacles are there for a reason. They’re not there to stop you, assuming that you’ll do anything to accomplish your goals. They’re there to stop the people that don’t want it enough. If you’re facing an obstacle, figure out how to overcome it and you’ll have effectively proved that your goals are legitimate.
