Inspirational Speech by Dr Randy Pausch On the Oprah Winfrey Show The Last Lecture Dr Pausch Pa

Summary

In a deeply personal and inspiring talk, Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor battling terminal pancreatic cancer, shares life lessons and his journey with childhood dreams. He emphasizes the importance of perseverance, living with integrity, the value of experiences over material things, and the power of fun and gratitude. Pausch's message is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the pursuit of a meaningful life, regardless of the challenges faced.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive and hopeful attitude, even in the face of terminal illness.
• 💪 Despite the speaker's physical challenges due to cancer, he highlights his strength and the need to focus on what one can control, rather than what one cannot.
• 🌟 The script underlines the significance of pursuing childhood dreams and the value of the journey, even if the dream is not fully realized.
• 🏈 The speaker shares a personal anecdote about his childhood dream of joining the NFL, illustrating that the pursuit itself can be rewarding.
• 🏰 The story of the speaker's dream to work for Walt Disney Imagineering and the persistence required to achieve it, despite initial rejections, is a key point.
• 🧱 The metaphor of 'brick walls' as a test of desire and determination is a central theme in the script.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The importance of having supportive parents who encourage creativity and personal growth is highlighted through the speaker's own experiences.
• 🚗 The speaker imparts a lesson on the value of experiences over material possessions, using the story of his new car and a memorable family outing.
• 🤝 The necessity of working well with others, living with integrity, and the power of a sincere apology are emphasized for achieving one's dreams.
• 🙏 The script stresses the power of gratitude, as demonstrated by the speaker's gesture of taking his research lab to Disney World as a token of appreciation.
• 🚫 The speaker discourages complaining and whining, advocating for spending energy on productive activities instead.
• 🌈 The overarching message is that leading a life with the right values and attitudes will attract dreams and opportunities, as karma takes care of itself.

Q & A

What is the 'last lecture' tradition mentioned in the script?

The 'last lecture' tradition is an academic practice where a professor is asked to think about what they would say if they knew they were going to die and had one last lecture to give to their students.

What was the speaker's condition during the talk?

The speaker was battling pancreatic cancer, which had returned after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Doctors had told him there was nothing more they could do, and he had only months to live.

What did the speaker emphasize about his physical strength despite his prognosis?

Despite being told he had only months to live, the speaker emphasized that he was physically very strong and probably stronger than most people in the audience.

What was the main focus of the speaker's talk at Carnegie Mellon University?

The main focus of the speaker's talk was not about death but about life and how to live it, specifically focusing on childhood dreams and how to achieve them.

What was one of the speaker's childhood dreams that he did not achieve?

One of the speaker's childhood dreams that he did not achieve was being in the National Football League.

What valuable lesson did the speaker learn from his coach, Jim Graham?

The speaker learned that when someone is hard on you for hours, it's because they care and want to make you better.

How did the speaker's childhood dream of working for Walt Disney Imagineering eventually come true?

The speaker's dream of working for Walt Disney Imagineering came true after he developed a valuable skill that Disney needed, and he was part of a team that worked on Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.

What lesson did the speaker's father teach him about humility?

The speaker's father taught him about humility by not mentioning his Bronze Star for valor received during World War II, even after 50 years of marriage.

Why did the speaker's parents let him paint his bedroom walls as a child?

The speaker's parents let him paint his bedroom walls to allow him to express his creativity, believing it was more important than keeping the walls pristine.

What advice did the speaker give about how to achieve one's dreams?

The speaker advised that to achieve one's dreams, one should work and play well with others, live with integrity, apologize sincerely when wrong, show gratitude, and avoid complaining and whining.

Who was the intended audience for the speaker's lecture at Carnegie Mellon University?

The speaker wrote the lecture primarily for his three little kids, though it was delivered to an audience at Carnegie Mellon University.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Facing Mortality with Hope and Dreams

The speaker begins by sharing his personal battle with terminal pancreatic cancer, emphasizing the reality of his situation rather than the hypothetical nature of the 'last lecture.' Despite the grim prognosis, he chooses to focus on life, specifically on the pursuit of childhood dreams. He reflects on his own happy childhood and the importance of maintaining a spirit of possibility, as exemplified by the moon landings. The speaker encourages the audience to strive for their dreams, even if they don't always come true, as the journey itself is rewarding. He shares his own unfulfilled dream of joining the NFL and the valuable life lessons he learned from the experience, such as the importance of hard work and the care shown through tough coaching.

05:00

🚀 Pursuing Dreams and Embracing Life's Journey

In this paragraph, the speaker continues to explore the theme of pursuing childhood dreams, recounting his aspiration to become a Walt Disney Imagineer. Despite initial rejections, his persistence and development of valuable skills eventually led to his involvement in the creation of 'Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.' The speaker underscores the importance of perseverance in the face of obstacles, likening them to 'brick walls' that test our determination. He also shares anecdotes about his parents, highlighting the lessons of humility, the value of experiences over material possessions, and the importance of creativity and fun. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the significance of living with integrity, working well with others, and showing gratitude, using personal stories to illustrate these points.

Keywords

💡Last Lecture

The 'Last Lecture' is an academic tradition where a professor is asked to think about what wisdom they would impart to their students if they knew they had only one lecture left to give before dying. In the script, the speaker is giving this lecture after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, emphasizing the importance of living life fully and pursuing one's dreams.

💡Elephant in the Room

The phrase 'elephant in the room' refers to an obvious issue or problem that is being ignored or not addressed. In the script, the speaker uses this metaphor to acknowledge their terminal illness, which is the unspoken reality overshadowing the lecture.

💡Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the pancreas, a glandular organ in the digestive system. The speaker mentions their battle with pancreatic cancer, which has returned after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, setting the context for the urgency and poignancy of the lecture.

💡Childhood Dreams

Childhood dreams are aspirations and fantasies that people have when they are young. The speaker encourages the audience to hold onto these dreams, using his own childhood dreams of being in the NFL and working for Walt Disney Imagineering as examples, and discussing the importance of striving for these dreams even if they are not fully realized.

💡Imagineering

Imagineering is the process of imagining and creating experiences at Disney parks and resorts. It is also the name of the division of the company responsible for designing and building Disney's theme parks and attractions. The speaker's dream of becoming an Imagineer is a central theme, illustrating the power of persistence and the joy of achieving one's dreams.

💡Brick Walls

In the context of the script, 'brick walls' symbolize obstacles or challenges that one encounters in life. The speaker suggests that these are not there to stop us but to test our determination and desire, using his own journey to become an Imagineer as an example of overcoming such barriers.

💡Humility

Humility is the quality of being modest and not thinking too highly of oneself. The speaker reflects on the humility of his father, who was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in World War II but never spoke of it, teaching the speaker a valuable lesson about the importance of humility.

💡Integrity

Integrity refers to the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. The speaker advises living with integrity, emphasizing the importance of telling the truth and apologizing when wrong, as part of achieving one's dreams and living a fulfilling life.

💡Gratitude

Gratitude is the feeling of thankfulness and appreciation. The speaker talks about the importance of showing gratitude to those who have helped him in his career, exemplified by his decision to take his research lab to Disney World as a thank you for their hard work.

💡Tigger and Eeyore

Tigger and Eeyore are characters from the 'Winnie-the-Pooh' stories by A.A. Milne. Tigger is energetic and optimistic, while Eeyore is pessimistic and often gloomy. The speaker uses these characters to illustrate the importance of having a positive attitude and choosing to have fun, even in the face of adversity.

💡Karma

Karma is a concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism that refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect, where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual. The speaker suggests that if one lives life the right way, good things will naturally come, reflecting a belief in the power of positive actions and attitudes.

Highlights

Delivering a 'last lecture' at Carnegie Mellon University, the speaker candidly discusses facing terminal pancreatic cancer.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of living life fully despite the prognosis of terminal illness.

The talk focuses on life and achieving childhood dreams rather than dwelling on death.

The speaker reflects on the value of trying for one's dreams, even if they are not achieved.

The importance of hard work and persistence is highlighted through the speaker's journey to Imagineering at Disney.

The speaker discusses the significance of overcoming obstacles, like 'brick walls', to show determination.

The influence of supportive parents on the speaker's life and career is acknowledged.

The speaker's father's humility and valor during World War II serve as a lesson in humility.

The nurturing environment provided by the speaker's mother, who always kept him grounded.

The speaker shares the importance of creativity and self-expression, as encouraged by his parents.

The value of experiences over material possessions, as demonstrated by the speaker's story about his new car.

The speaker encourages embracing a 'Tigger' personality, characterized by energy, optimism, and fun.

The importance of working and playing well with others, and living with integrity.

The significance of a sincere apology, which includes acknowledging fault and making amends.

The speaker's belief in the goodness of people, even those we may not initially like.

The power of gratitude, as exemplified by the speaker's gesture towards his research team.

The speaker's stance against complaining and whining as unproductive uses of time and energy.

The broader message of the lecture, which is about living life the right way to attract dreams and success.

The personal significance of the lecture, intended for the speaker's children, to guide them in life.

Transcripts

so I'm reprising a talk that I gave in

September at Carnegie Mellon University

there's an academic tradition called the

last lecture hypothetically if you knew

you're going to die and you had one last

lecture what would you say to your

students well for me there's an elephant

in the room and the elephant in the room

is that for me it wasn't hypothetical

I've been fighting pancreatic cancer it

has now come back after surgery

chemotherapy and radiation and the

doctors tell me there's nothing more to

do and I have months to live these are

my most recent CT scans the pancreatic

cancer has spread to my liver they're

approximately a dozen tumors I don't

like this I have three little kids let's

be clear this stinks but I can't do

anything about the fact that I'm going

to die I'm pursuing medical treatments

but I pretty much know how this movie is

going to end and I can't control the

cards I'm dealt just how I play the

hands now if I'm not morose enough for

you I'm sorry to disappoint but I don't

choose to be an object of pity and in

fact although I'm going to die soon I'm

actually physically very strong in fact

I'm probably physically stronger than

most of the people in this audience

so today's talk is not about death it's

about life and how to live specifically

about childhood dreams and about how you

can try to achieve them my childhood

dreams your childhood dreams as a child

I had an incredibly happy childhood I

went back and raided the photo album and

I couldn't find any places where I

wasn't smiling right I just had a great

childhood and I was dreaming always

dreaming it was an easy time to dream

when you turn on your television set and

men are landing on the moon anything is

possible and we should never lose that

spirit so what were my childhood dreams

being in the National Football League

this is one of the childhood dreams I

didn't achieve all right and it's very

important to know that if you don't

achieve your dreams you can still get a

lot by trying for it there's an

expression i love experiences what you

get when you don't get what you wanted

now I played Little League football for

a long time and I had a phenomenal coach

coach Jim Graham and he was old school

when I was at a practice he rode me all

practice you know you're doing it wrong

go back do it again you're sloughing off

you owe me push-ups just for two hours

it was relentless and after practice one

of the assistant coaches came up to me

and he said yeah coach Graham Rohde

you're pretty hard and I said yeah he

said that's a good thing because it

means he cares when you're doing a bad

job and nobody points it out to you

that's when they've given up on you and

that's something that's really stuck

with me is when somebody is going to

ride you for two hours they're doing

that because they care to make you

better so next dream Walt Disney

Imagineering when I was eight my family

took the pilgrimage to disneyland in

california and it was this incredible

experience the rides and the shows and

the attractions and everything and I

said gosh I'd like to make stuff like

that when I get older so I graduated

from college and I tried to become an

Imagineer these are the people who make

the magic and I got a lovely rejection

letter and then I tried again after

graduate school and I've kept all of

these rejection letters over the years

they're very inspirational but then the

darndest thing happened you know I

worked hard and worked hard and I became

a junior faculty member and I

specialized in two

certain kinds of research that's me and

I developed a skill that was valuable to

Disney and I got a chance to go there

and I was part of an Imagineering team

and we work on something called

Aladdin's magic carpet ride and it was

incredibly cool however it took me over

15 years to do it and lots and lots of

tries and what I learned from that is

that the brick walls that are in our way

are there for a reason they are not

there to keep us out they are there to

give us a way to show how much we want

it if you have childhood dreams i

recommend you have good parents i lucked

out i have great parents this is my

mother on her 70th birthday I am the

blur in the back I have just been lapped

this is my father on his 80th birthday

there is this notion of have fun all the

time have a sense of fun and wonder that

should never go away all right my dad

what an incredible guy he fought in

World War two he was clearly part of the

greatest generation sadly my dad passed

away a little over a year ago and when

my mother was going through his things

that was when she discovered that in

World War two he was awarded the Bronze

Star for valor in 50 years of marriage

it had just never come up there's a real

lesson in humility that I can learn from

my father there now my mother mothers

are people who love you even when you

pull their hair and this was the kind of

relationship I had with my mother and my

mother speaking of humility was always

there to keep me in check when I was

going through graduate school and I was

taking really hard examinations I was

home pretty much complaining and whining

about how hard these PhD tests were and

she just patted my arm and she said we

know how you feel just remember that

when your father was your age he was

fighting the Germans in World War two

and then the day came when I got my PhD

and I was so proud and my mother

introduced me to everyone is this is my

son he's a doctor but not the kind that

helps people probably the most

wonderfully my parents did was they let

me paint my bedroom I said one day I

want to paint stuff on the walls and

they said okay so i had a rocket ship

and we live in a ranch so I wanted an

elevator I wasn't sure where it would go

and yeah you can tell the Nerds early so

that's the quadratic equation but the

great thing is that they let me do it

and they felt that letting me express my

creativity was more important than the

pristine nature of the walls and I was

really blessed to have parents who saw

it that way my parents taught me about

the importance of people versus things

so when I get older and I bought my

first car and I was so excited I have

this shiny new convertible this is my

niece and nephew Christopher and Laura

and every every month I'd take them for

a weekend so my sister and her husband

get a little break and we go off on

adventures I just showed up with my new

car and my sister is explaining to chris

and laura now it's uncle randy's new car

you can't get it dirty two-headed idea

and they're just cracking up laughing

because over her shoulder I'm casually

opening a can of soda and just emptying

it on the back seat and they come

running over mrs. what are you doing I

said it's a thing it's just a thing I'm

really glad I did that because at the

end of the weekend as i was driving them

home little chris who was about eight at

the time it had the flu and he threw up

all over the backseat of my car and I

don't care how much value you get out of

owning a nice shiny pristine thing it's

not as good as I felt knowing that i

made an eight-year-old boy not feel

guilty just because you've had the flu

next thing you better decide early on if

you're a Tigger or Annie or Tiggers are

energetic they're optimistic they're

curious they're enthusiastic and they

have fun and never ever underestimate

the importance of having fun I am dying

soon and I am choosing to have fun today

tomorrow and every other day I have left

if you want to achieve your dreams you

better work and play well with others

and that means you better live with

integrity simple advice that you'll find

hard to follow just tell the truth

second thing when you screw up apologize

there are a lot of bad apologies in

America a good apology has three parts

I'm sorry it was my fault how do I make

it right most people skip that third

part that's how you can tell sincerity

the last thing is that we all have

people that we don't like that have

things we don't like and what I have

found is no one is pure evil if you wait

long enough they will show you their

good side you can't make them do it in a

hurry but you can be patient show

gratitude when I got tenure as a young

faculty member there about 15 young kids

who've been working in my research lab I

took them all down to Disney World for a

week on my nickel where my colleagues

said this must have cost you an arm and

a leg how could you do it I said these

kids just work day and night for years

so that I could get the best job in the

world for life how could I not do it

when gratitude is a very simple thing

and it's a very powerful thing and

lastly I don't think complaining and

whining really solves the problem this

is jackie robinson first black major

leaguer had it in his contract not to

complain if people spit on him all right

now i don't care if you're Jackie

Robinson or if you're a guy like me

who's only got a couple of months to

live you can choose to take your finite

time and energy and effort and you can

spend it complaining where you can spend

it playing the game hard which is

probably going to be more helpful to you

in the long run now I told you this as

part of the lecture series at Carnegie

Mellon University and it's important for

you to know why I gave the talk okay the

talk isn't just about how to achieve

your childhood dreams it's much broader

than that it's about how to live your

life because if you lead your life the

right way the karma will take care of

itself the dreams will come to you if

you live properly the dreams will come

to you I think it's great that so many

people have benefited from this lecture

but the truth of the matter is that I

didn't even really give it to the four

hundred people at Carnegie Mellon who

came I only wrote this lecture for three

people and when no older they'll watch

it thank