Quotes from Randy Pausch

Focus on other people, not on yourself.

Do not tell people how to live their lives. Just tell them stories and they will figure out how those stories apply to them.

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.

It's a thrill to fulfill your own childhood dreams, but as you get older, you may find that enabling the dreams of others is even more fun.

People lie for lots of reasons, often because it seems like a way to get what they want with less effort.

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.

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

It's not helpful if we spend every day dreading tomorrow ~Jai

If you can find an opening, you can probably find a way to float through it.

You don't beat the grim reaper by living longer; you beat the grim reaper by living better.

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

if you offer wisdom from a third party, it seems less arrogant and more acceptable.

Look for the best in everybody

Most people who have told a lie think they got away with it … when in fact, they didn't

Apologies are not pass/fail.

Your critics are the ones telling you they still love you and care. Worry when you do something badly and nobody bothers to tell you.

And even though I did not reach the NFL, I sometimes think I got more from persuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, then I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.

We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn't matter. Life is to be lived

Please don't die.

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

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 I the wound.

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

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?

There's a lot of talk these days about giving children self-esteem. It's not something you can give; it's something they have to build.