book review of the last lecture by randy pausch

Book Review: The Last Lecture

• February 24, 2022

Book: The Last Lecture

By: Randy Pausch

Reviewed by: Kenzie Bertrand

The Premise: The Last Lecture is a national bestseller by Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), who was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in August 2007. The university has a tradition of inviting professors to give a lecture to their students, as if it is their last. What would you say? What life lessons have you learned? What words of advice would you share? For Randy, his “Last Lecture” titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” at CMU on September 18 th , 2007, really was his last lecture.

Randy’s lecture was full stories from his childhood, his life as a father and a husband, and he shares the life lessons he has learned along the way. The lecture is full of hope, optimism, and humour. It went viral on YouTube and was shortly published into a book in 2008. Randy got to witness his lecture go viral, co-author this book and give an abridged version of his speech on The Oprah Winfrey Show before he passed away in July of 2008.

The Bottomline: The book described the lecture well and I felt the passion and emotion through the written words. I was inspired by some of his stories and life lessons, and I appreciated his vulnerability and frankness. After reading the book, I watched the lecture on YouTube, and I would say watching and listening to the lecture is 10x more powerful. He was a captivating lecturer, and you could tell there was a tremendous amount of respect from his students and faculty who provided a long standing ovation before Randy even started to speak. The bottom line, The Last Lecture is powerful, relevant, and inspiring, especially after the long month of January.

Recommendation: I recommend anyone to watch The Last Lecture on YouTube to get the most value out of lecture. If you don’t have two hours to spare, I recommend watching the condensed 10-minute version of his speech that he presented on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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Originally Published on OpEdNews

The Last Lecture

If you haven't seen the Youtube video, read the Parade Magazine or the Original Wall Street Journal articles that got this phenomenon off the ground, you're missing something you really want to be aware of. Randy Pausch is dying of cancer. He had surgery and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer and it failed. He's been told he has three to six months to live, with the ten tumors in his liver that came back after his original treatment.

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Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain , on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind.  Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness and empowering them to take more control of their lives  one person at a time was too slow, he founded Opednews.com -- which has been the top search result on Google for the terms liberal news and progressive opinion for several years. Rob began his Bottom-up Radio show , broadcast on WNJC 1360 AM to Metro Philly, also available on iTunes, covering the transition of our culture, business and world from predominantly Top-down (hierarchical, centralized, authoritarian, patriarchal, big)  to bottom-up (egalitarian, local, interdependent, grassroots, archetypal feminine and small.) Recent long-term projects include a book, Bottom-up-- The Connection Revolution, debillionairizing the planet and the Psychopathy Defense and Optimization Project. 

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Most Popular Articles by this Author :     ( View All Most Popular Articles by this Author ) What is the Opposite of Psychopathy? (6241 views) Expand Your Happiness and Pleasure Vocabulary: OMG? How Do YOU Say Something, Some Experience is Amazing, Awesome? (5285 views) Positive Psychology-- Promising a Better Humanity (3259 views) Awe is a Bottom-up Experience (3240 views) Goose Walk in Single File; A moment to Spontaneously Pause (2999 views) Visions of a Positive Future vs Fixing a Pathological Present (2961 views) Total Views: 23985

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, the last lecture.

Can you enjoy a story when you know the ending? We all know we are going to die someday, but for computer scientist Randy Pausch, “someday” came into focus back in August 2007, when he learned that his pancreatic cancer had metastasized to his liver and spleen.

Forty-seven years old and the father of three young children, this energetic, time-management enthusiast quickly turned his attention to the wise use of the three-to-six reasonably healthy months his doctors estimated he had left. He moved his family from Pittsburgh to Virginia, so that his wife Jai would be closer to her family after his death. He thought long and hard about the legacy he would leave for his family and for his students at Carnegie Mellon University. The idea of a videotaped “last lecture” strongly appealed to him, although Jai wasn’t so crazy about the energy and time it would take away from their family.

Nevertheless, he did it, and it was a huge success. In fact it was so successful that he agreed to record stories and thoughts from the lecture on tape (while riding his bicycle no less) so that writer Jeffrey Zaslow could shape it into this small book, which quickly ascended the New York Times bestseller list. As of this writing, Randy is still with us, fighting his disease with characteristic humor.

The book is well organized into sections that illustrate Randy’s main points: that you really can achieve your childhood dreams and help others realize theirs. Through his life stories, which include becoming a college professor, a husband and a father, he details the traits and beliefs that have helped him succeed. He starts by acknowledging that he “won the parent lottery.” His parents were engaged, intelligent and supportive. They let him paint the walls of his bedroom with quadratic equations, “Star Trek” lore and Pandora’s Box with his friends. They did not shower him with unearned approval or material things. “We didn’t buy much. But we thought about everything.” The family rarely made it through dinner without resorting to the dictionary or the encyclopedia to discover something new.

As a result of such parenting, and perhaps due to a certain innate arrogance (which he would be the first to admit), Randy believed he could and would achieve his childhood dreams --- being in zero gravity and authoring an article in the World Book Encyclopedia among them. The book recounts how most of them have become a reality, due to hard work, perseverance and luck. Although --- as he says, quoting Seneca, in a section about his favorite clichés, --- “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Throughout the book, the author is frank about his emotions but never maudlin. He and his writer friend Zaslow have done a nice job of balancing poignancy and humor, making his advice and maxims both urgent and palatable.

There is at least one other recent title --- NOT FADE AWAY by Laurence Shames and Peter Barton --- in which a super successful man with cancer imparts his life’s accumulated wisdom. I have to admit that books like these fill me with admiration but make me feel a little slug-like in my own confused priorities and misspent energies. Maybe that’s a good thing --- it never hurts to be reminded that our time is limited and that we have choices about how we spend it. In any case, I’m grateful that Randy Pausch chose to do his last lecture, and that through this book we can share it too.

Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol on April 8, 2008

The Last Lecture Randy Pausch , with Jeffrey Zaslow

• Publication Date: April 8, 2008
• Genres: Nonfiction
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion
• ISBN-10: 1401323251
• ISBN-13: 9781401323257

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• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

death , everyday life , families , love , optimism

Note: I occasionally accept review copies from the publisher. Posts written from review copies are labeled. All opinions are my own. Posts may contain  affiliate links. I may receive compensation for any purchased items.

Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 46, when his youngest daughter was just 3 months old. As a well-known computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, he was a world leader in virtual reality training. But the focus of his last lecture to the university is not about programming a computer: It’s about how to live life. In Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture , Randy tells his three young children what it means to be happy, despite the odds, and what it means to truly live. His words, given with his own death date in mind, may inspire everyone.

I had never heard of Randy Pausch until he passed away on July 25, 2008. My husband was watching “The Last Lecture” via the Internet, and I saw a little of it. When I saw the book this week sitting on my mother’s coffee table, I picked it up. I couldn’t stop reading it.

Randy’s trials were incredibly challenging. In August 2007, just one month before he delivered his last lecture, he found out that his cancer was terminal; he had three-to-six months to live. Yet his optimism in the lecture and in his book reveals his true passion for living.

I don’t know how not to have fun. I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there’s no other way to play it. (page 179)

Randy Pausch died nine months after he delivered his memorable lecture, three months longer than his diagnosis. His enthusiasm for life seems to have remained until the end of his life.

I’d highly recommend reading this best-seller or at least watching his inspiring talk. Visit www.thelastlecture.org for more information about Randy Pausch, his lecture, and his Carnegie Mellon University virtual reality legacy. You can also find more information about helping fight pancreatic cancer.

If you found you had three-to-six months left to live, would you remain positive, even in the midst of the pain of chemotherapy? I don’t know how I would be. But most importantly, what would you share with your family and friends?

I don’t know how I would be. But I certainly hope I could reemphasize to my family the great things that we enjoy by being alive. That positive hope is the message I got from Randy Pausch.

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About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

I would hope I would stay positive, but I’m afraid I’d have a big ol’ pity party for myself.

I know this one has been on the NY times bestseller list forever but I’ve never taken the time to find out what it was about. Thanks. I don’t mind books like this, I just might pick this one up.

Kathy, me too! Natasha, it could have been “cheesy” but this one wasn’t! It never would have occurred to him to write a book; he is too down to earth. It was just others who encouraged him to put it together. I think it was incredibly inspiring and a quick read!

My bookclub is reading this in a few months (although I think I’ll try to listen it). Glad you liked it–I saw his interview with Diane Sawyer a few months ago and was really touched.

Trish, I found that listening and reading were kind of different; the book has lots of thoughts he didn’t talk about in the lecture. I’d recommend both watching it and reading it. It’s a very quick read.

[…] reviewed by: Stacy at Stacy’s Bookblog, Kristen at Book Club Classics, Rebecca at Rebecca Reads, Melissa at Shh I’m Reading Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The Last Lecture […]

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The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Summary

If someone asked you, “what’s unique about you” how would you answer  you'd probably stop dead in your tracks. and more than likely, you'd take time to think before you answered. that’s the question randy pausch asked himself when he was about to prepare his presentation for the last lecture series. the book, the last lecture by randy pausch, was eventually published ., initial thoughts on the last lecture by randy pausch.

Many of you have probably heard about Randy Pausch, and have seen the video – to date viewed over 18 million times – that went viral a couple of years ago. Pausch had pancreatic cancer, and the treatments he underwent did not work.

He desperately wanted to live because he loved his wife deeply. And he had three children five years and under whom he wanted to live for. He wanted to see them grow up, but that was not to be the case.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture  YouTube Video

If you cannot view Randy Pausch's Last Lecture on YouTube, please click here .

At many universities, professors are asked to do a presentation on their last lecture, which deals with topics that really matter to them. In this instance, Pausch who was a professor at Carnegie Mellon , was really going to be giving his last lecture. He had been given six months to live, and hence he asked himself the question, “What’s unique about me?”

He knew it wasn’t cancer, because there are many people suffering from cancer.

“ Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of any cancer; half of those with it will die within six months, and 96 percent die within five years.”

And according to Natural Health Dossier Health Watch, every 55 seconds someone dies from cancer in the United States.

For Pausch, what made him unique was the fact that he achieved his childhood dreams. How many of us can honestly say that?

Pausch wanted to leave a legacy for his young children, he wanted to leave them things to remember him by. The book, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is one of the things he left behind as a legacy for his wife and children.

What is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is About?

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is an easy read, that’s packed with a lot of punch. It’s a collection of 61 short stories and is a celebration of a life worth living. Pausch packed a lot of living into his 47 years.

To achieve his childhood dreams, there were often obstacles in his path – the proverbial brick wall.s And in The Last Lecture , Pausch walks us through how he went through these brick walls. For instance, when he was a child, he dreamed that he would some day work at Disney.

He got the opportunity to be an Imagineer at Disney because he was a computer scientist with a lot of experience in virtual reality. But the brick wall he faced was to get a six-month sabbatical from his professorship. It wasn’t easy, but he built his case and even had to go a level up in the university bureaucracy to get the time off that he needed. Pausch found a way to push through the brick wall. And you see the many brick walls he pushed through to achieve his childhood dreams.

Pausch says there are three parts to an apology and when you read what he says, it makes sense.

• What I did was wrong.
• I feel badly that I hurt you.
• How do I make this better?

Nothing less will do, and explaining yourself dilutes the apology. As far as he is concerned, no apology is better than a poor apology.

There are many nuggets of wisdom interspersed throughout The Last Lecture .

“When you go into the wilderness, all you have is what you take with you. What’s the worst case scenario and plan for that,” says Pausch.

When I read this, I was reminded of some conferences that I attended where the technology failed to work and the presenters either fell apart and got mad, or the show went on. For those who recovered quickly, the difference? They were prepared for their presentation. To them, PowerPoint was only a tool that they could do without if the need arose. They were able to engage the audience, even without the flash.

Seven Great Ideas from Pausch in The Last Lecture

• If you want something bad enough, don’t give up.
• Luck = Preparation + Opportunity (Seneca).
• Recognize when it’s time to change your strategy. “I signed up for the hardest treatments that could be thrown at me because I wanted to be around as long as possible to be there for my kids.” When Pausch realized that, that was not going to be the case, he changed his strategy to leaving a legacy and spending quality time with his wife and each of his three children.
• Get the fundamentals down for everything. Have you mastered the fundamentals for your job?
• Your attitude affects the outcome of every situation.
• Complaining does not work as a strategy.
• Value people more than you value things.

Pausch wasn’t perfect because no one is. In The Last Lecture he talks about being a recovering jerk. A professor who saw his potential, called him on his attitude and that was critical to how much he achieved in his life.

“I’ve been lucky enough to benefit over the years from people like Andy [his professor], who have cared enough to tell me the tough-love things that I needed to hear.”

Do you take the time to give tough-love to those you care about, without diminishing them as a person? And how well do you accept the tough-love that's given to you?

While reading The Last Lecture , I gleaned three questions to differentiate us, and I’m still trying to answer them for myself:

• What are three things that matter the most to you?
• What’s unique about you?
• What do you alone truly have to offer?

Final Thoughts on The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture is a powerful and emotional journey, a testament to the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Randy Pausch's wisdom, courage, and determination to continue to inspire readers to look beyond their challenges and focus on what truly matters. The main message is to live life fully and help others achieve their dreams.

Life is short and unpredictable, but it offers many chances to learn, grow, and make a difference. His lessons inspire readers to have a positive attitude, keep going despite challenges, and work towards their dreams, no matter the size.

I recommend The Last Lecture   by Randy Pausch because you’ll get some nuggets of wisdom. I am confident that you’ll take away at least one thing from it.

Wondering what to do next, you can do all of:

Buy my new book, leadership reading: spilling the tea on how top leaders read, if you want to consult 1:1 about effective reading strategies, subscribe to my youtube channel, join the art of learning membership site, download unlock your genius power reading tips sheet, buy me a cup of coffee, if you want access to my bookish notes, please consider joining my membership site, the art of learning ..

This post contains affiliate links and The Invisible Mentor® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here . Thank you so much for your support!

UPDATE : This was first published in May 2011.

About the Author  Avil Beckford

Hello there! I am Avil Beckford, the founder of The Invisible Mentor. I am also a published author, writer, expert interviewer host of The One Problem Podcast and MoreReads Success Blueprint, a movement to help participants learn in-demand skills for future jobs. Sign-up for MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World today! In the meantime, Please support me by buying my e-books Visit My Shop , and thank you for connecting with me on LinkedIn , Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest !

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The Last Lecture Hardcover – April 8, 2008

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When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." --Randy Pausch

• Print length 206 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Hyperion
• Publication date April 8, 2008
• Reading age 18 years and up
• Dimensions 5.63 x 1 x 7.38 inches
• ISBN-10 9781401323257
• ISBN-13 978-1401323257
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com review.

Actually, I was never good at the milk bottles. I'm more of a ring toss and softball-in-milk-can guy, myself. More seriously, though, most people try these games once, don't win immediately, and then give up. I've won *lots* of midway stuffed animals, but I don't ever recall winning one on the very first try. Nor did I expect to. That's why I think midway games are a great metaphor for life.

About the Author

Excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., the last lecture, chapter one.

Excerpted from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Copyright ©2008 by Randy Pausch. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1401323251
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hyperion; First Edition (April 8, 2008)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 206 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781401323257
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1401323257
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.63 x 1 x 7.38 inches
• #5 in Educator Biographies
• #202 in Motivational Self-Help (Books)
• #213 in Personal Transformation Self-Help

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About the authors

Randy pausch.

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." --Randy Pausch Randy Pausch was a professor of Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University. From 1988 to 1997, he taught at the University of Virginia. He was an award-winning teacher and researcher, and worked with Adobe, Google, Electronic Arts (EA), and Walt Disney Imagineering, and pioneered the non-profit Alice project. (Alice is an innovative 3-D environment that teaches programming to young people via storytelling and interactive game-playing.) He also co-founded The Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon with Don Marinelli. A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? Dr. Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture", titled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, at CMU on September 18, 2007. His last lecture was extra-special, as it was conceived after he learned that his previously known pancreatic cancer was terminal. But the lecture he gave wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. During the lecture, Pausch was upbeat and humorous, alternating between wisecracks, insights on computer science and engineering education, advice on building multi-disciplinary collaborations, working in groups and interacting with other people, offering inspirational life lessons, and performing push-ups on stage. His "Last Lecture" has attracted wide attention from media in the United States as well as around the world. The video of the speech became an Internet hit, and was viewed over a million times in the first month after its delivery. Randy lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008.

Jeffrey Zaslow

Through his Wall Street Journal column and bestselling books, Jeffrey Zaslow has told the stories of some of the most inspirational people of our time.

Jeff is best known for The Last Lecture, written with Randy Pausch, which has been translated into 48 languages, and was #1 on best-seller lists worldwide. Five million copies have been sold in English alone, and the book remained on The New York Times best-seller list for more than 112 weeks.

Jeff's latest book, The Magic Room: A story about the love we wish for our daughters, was published in January 2012. The nonfiction narrative is set at a small-town Michigan bridal shop, and looks at the lives of a handful of brides (and their parents) who've journeyed to the store's "Magic Room." Details at www.magicroombook.com

In 2011, Jeff collaborated with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, veteran astronaut Mark Kelly, on their memoir, GABBY: A Story of Courage and Hope. The book received a great deal of attention, including a cover story in People magazine, and an hour-long ABC TV special hosted by Diane Sawyer. GABBY debuted near the top of the New York Times bestseller lists for both hardcovers and e-books.

Jeff's 2009 book about female friendship, The Girls From Ames, spent 26 weeks on The Times list, rising to #3. People magazine named it one of the "Ten Best Books of the Year." Lifetime Television is adapting the book for a movie.

Also in 2009, Jeff coauthored Highest Duty, the memoir of Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger, who famously landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River. Highest Duty debuted at # 3 on The New York Times list.

Jeff's Wall Street Journal column focuses on life transitions and often attracts wide media interest. That was certainly the case in September 2007, after he attended the final lecture of Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch. Jeff's column about the talk sparked a worldwide phenomenon. Millions of people viewed footage of the lecture. Intense media coverage included The Oprah Winfrey Show and an ABC special.

Jeff is drawn to the topics he writes about because he has created a beat unlike most others in journalism. While The Wall Street Journal covers the heart of the financial world, Jeff tends to the hearts of its readers.

The National Society of Newspaper Columnists twice named him the best columnist in a newspaper with more than 100,000 circulation. In 2008, he received the Distinguished Column Writing Award from the New York Newspaper Publishers Association.

Jeff's TV appearances have included The Tonight Show, Oprah, Larry King Live, 60 Minutes, The Today Show and Good Morning America.

Jeff first worked at the Journal from 1983 to 1987, when he wrote about a competition to replace Ann Landers at the Chicago Sun-Times. He entered to get an angle for his story, and won the job over 12,000 applicants. He worked at the Sun-Times from 1987 to 2001, and was also a columnist for USA Weekend, the Sunday supplement in 510 newspapers.

In 2000, Jeff received the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award for using his column to help 47,000 disadvantaged children. For 12 years, he hosted an annual singles party for charity, Zazz Bash, which drew 7,000 readers a year and resulted in 78 marriages.

A Philadelphia native, Jeff is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon, where he majored in creative writing. His wife, Sherry Margolis, is a TV news anchor with Fox 2 in Detroit. They have three daughters: Jordan, Alex and Eden.

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| The Art of Aliveness for All

25 Life Lessons from “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch (Book Summary)

By Kyle Kowalski · Leave a Comment

A book summary of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch could never do it justice.

I’d encourage you to watch the video of the speech here (over 20M views):

Also, there’s a free, full transcript of the speech and a book available to purchase on Amazon with some additional commentary:

Randy Pausch proves it’s possible to live a full life in a shorter amount of time.

“I really do feel I was able to pack a whole lot of life into the shortened lifespan I’ve been handed.” — Randy Pausch

25 Life Lessons from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Book Summary)

About randy pausch & the last lecture.

“Many people might expect the talk to be about dying. But it had to be about living.” — Randy Pausch

• Randy Pausch was a professor of Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University.
• He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had ten tumors in his liver—given only months left to live.
• His famous ‘last lecture’ was given on Sept 18, 2007, and he passed away on July 25, 2008.
• The book covers 53 short ‘lectures’ (some of which his students called ‘Pauschisms’). I’ve selected my favorites and top quotes for this book summary.

25 Life Lessons from The Last Lecture

Here are my top takeaways from the speech. More detail on each point and top quotes are provided below this summary image:

1. Play the hand you are dealt.

• “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

2. Do the right thing.

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

3. Brick walls are there for a reason.

• “The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something … The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

4. If you have a question, then find the answer.

• “Open the encyclopedia. Open the dictionary. Open your mind.”

5. Focus on the fundamentals.

• “You’ve got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.”

6. Often, things are in your control (for better or worse).

• “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.”

7. Time must be managed, like money.

• “Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.”

8. Give the gift of knowledge, not stuff.

• “My parents were frugal. Unlike many Americans, they would never buy anything for the purposes of impressing other people, or as any kind of luxury for themselves. But they happily bought the World Book, spending a princely sum at the time, because by doing so, they were giving the gift of knowledge to me and my sister. They also ordered the annual companion volumes.”

9. The best gift an educator can give is to get somebody to become self-reflective.

• “It is an accepted cliché in education that the number one goal of teachers should be to help students learn how to learn. I always saw the value in that, sure. But in my mind, a better number one goal was this: I wanted to help students learn how to judge themselves … The only way any of us can improve … is if we develop a real ability to assess ourselves.”

10. Use head fakes to teach.

• “Remember the head fake? That’s when you teach somebody something by having them think they’re learning something else.”

11. Feedback means someone cares.

• “When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, 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.”

12. The real point of sports is more important than sports.

• “When we send our kids to play organized sports—football, soccer, swimming, whatever—for most of us, it’s not because we’re desperate for them to learn the intricacies of the sport. What we really want them to learn is far more important: teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, the value of hard work, an ability to deal with adversity.”

13. The job of a parent is encouragement.

• “As I see it, a parent’s job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their own dreams. The best we can do is to help them develop a personal set of tools for the task.”

14. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

• (Attributed to Seneca)

15. Inspiration is the ultimate tool for doing good.

• “When you’re putting people on the moon, you’re inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved.”

16. Earnest is better than hip.

• “I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term. Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface.”

17. Problem solving beats complaining.

• “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.”

18. If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you.

• “In the end, people will show you their good side. Almost everybody has a good side. Just keep waiting. It will come out.” — Jon Snoddy

19. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

• “I’d say that to students as a reminder not to focus on little issues, while ignoring the major ones.”

20. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

• “And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”

21. Working hard is the best shortcut.

• “A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard … As I see it, if you work more hours than somebody else, during those hours you learn more about your craft. That can make you more efficient, more able, even happier. Hard work is like compounded interest in the bank. The rewards build faster.”

22. Always have a plan.

• “One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose. There are a lot of things I don’t worry about because I have a plan in place if they do.”

23. Tell the truth, all the time.

• “If I could only give three words of advice, they would be ‘tell the truth.’ If I got three more words, I’d add: ‘All the time’ … Honesty is not only morally right, it’s also efficient.”

24. Always have fun.

• “I mean, I don’t know how not to have fun. I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there’s no other way to play it.”

25. If you lead your life the right way, your dreams will come to you.

• “It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.”

You May Also Enjoy:

• Learning to Live before you Die: “On the Shortness of Life” by Seneca (Essay Summary)
• 15 Deep Insights about Death to Understand the Meaning of Life & Live Fully Alive
• Write Your Own Eulogy — Then Live Up To It

About Kyle Kowalski

👋 Hi, I'm Kyle―the human behind Sloww . I'm an ex-marketing executive turned self-education entrepreneur after an existential crisis in 2015. In one sentence: my purpose is synthesizing lifelong learning that catalyzes deeper development . But, I’m not a professor, philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist, scientist, mystic, or guru. I’m an interconnector across all those humans and many more—an "independent, inquiring, interdisciplinary integrator" (in other words, it's just me over here, asking questions, crossing disciplines, and making connections). To keep it simple, you can just call me a "synthesizer." Sloww shares the art of living with students of life . Read my story.

Sloww participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. When you purchase a book through an Amazon link, Sloww earns a small percentage at no additional cost to you. This helps fund the costs to support the site and the ad-free experience.

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The Last Lecture Randy Pausch , with Jeffrey Zaslow

• Publication Date: April 8, 2008
• Genres: Nonfiction
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion
• ISBN-10: 1401323251
• ISBN-13: 9781401323257
• About the Book
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Book Review : The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." – Randy Pausch

Introduction

It was sometime in 2007 that I first came across Randy Pausch’s "The Last Lecture" video in which Randy talked about about "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". It has been an influential talk in my life and I have seen the video a couple of times since then. Recently I bought the "The Last Lecture" book by Randy which is based on this popular video. The book goes through the same topic as the video, but also has interesting additional material including background material on the lecture. This is my review of the book.

Randy Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, US. His expertise was in virtual reality and he went on to create the Alice project . At the age of 46, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Carnegie Mellon had a lecture series called "the last lecture" (now known as journeys) where faculty members share their reflection on their life journeys. In the case of Randy, "the last lecture" was really like his last lecture since he had only months to live due to his terminal cancer.

On September 18, 2007, Randy Pausch gave his "last lecture" titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". The lecture outlined his childhood dreams and how he went about achieving it in his life. It is in essence a short summary of his life and he said he intended the lecture as a message to his children. The video of the lecture became viral and as of writing this article, it had over 15 millions page views!

"The Last Lecture" soon became an internet sensation and Randy went on to do appearances in ABC Network , Oprah Winfrey Show , Time Magazine and also gave a speech at commencement ceremony in Carnegie Mellon . He also wrote a book titled "The Last Lecture" which was sold over 5 million copies world wide.

Randy died from pancreatic cancer on July,2008 at the age of 47. However his book and his lecture will remain a source of inspiration for the future generations.

(I) The Last Lecture – A background on the last lecture at Carnegie Mellon.

(II) Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams – Much of the material here are also in the video.

(III) Adventures … And Lesson Learned -This is a collection of his life experiences and what he learned.

(IV) Enabling the Dreams of Others

(V) It is About How to Live Your Life – Randy lists the rules by which he tried to live his life.

(VI) Final Remarks

The first thing you notice is that the book assumes that you have seen the last lecture video. Many chapters refer to the background of the video and if you have seen it, you immediately make a connection.

When you read the book, it feels as if you are going through the entire life of Randy in a few minutes. We learn how he achieves his childhood dreams even when there are some really hard obstacles. According to him, the obstacles are there for a reason, it is to keep the "other" people out!

One of the things he mentions in his book is that when you want something, just ask. I have applied this principle even when I thought asking will lead to 100% rejection. Surprisingly, the actual rejection rate was something like 50% and even in those cases I think if I am persistent enough it would have worked. As Randy says,

"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"

Most of his advice on life is actually ancient wisdom and clearly these are all principles valid till the end of humanity (importance of hard work, dreaming big, showing gratitude etc.). It is interesting to see them in the context of Randy’s life. If you are looking for any soft of deep philosophical discussions, this is not the book for you.

His view of "failures" is that it is what gives us experience. He even had an award for "glorious failure" in his "building virtual worlds" course. As Randy says,

"Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted"

At just over 200 pages, "The Last Lecture" is a small book. In every page you find a man’s agony in knowing that soon his children won’t have a father to protect & guide them. Randy writes in such a honest and passionate way that you will find it hard to stop once you start reading the book.

My Rating : 8/10. This is a good book. It may have a positive influence on the way you live.

Other Notable Quotes by Randy Pausch

"If I only had three words of advice, they would be, Tell the Truth. If got three more words, I’d add, all the time."

"When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you."

"It’s not about how to achieve your dreams, it’s about how to lead your life, If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you."

Online Resources

• The Last Lecture Video
• The Last Lecture Book
• The Alice Project
• Time Interview (10 Questions)
• ABC Interview (April 2008)
• Appearance at Carnegie Mellon Commencement Ceremony (May 2008)

2 Comments to “Book Review : The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch”

Hello Jayson,

I visited your web page and found it quite interesting and useful. It’s a great service that you’re doing. I got into your page while searching for info about the Ponmudi Golden Peak resort and got a very good description. Thank you

Dear Jayson, I posted a video of the speech made by Steve Jobs at Stanford University Commencement with Malayalam sound-over, to keep a word I gave my students at their farewell. https://www.facebook.com/thomas.km.56?fref=nf While working on it I thought it might benefit Kerala school children and posted in in my Malayalam tutorial channel which has a few other assorted tutorials. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFvjCCPmc7M&feature=youtu.be As it involves a good amount on investment with time I don’t want to blotch it. You have read the book. If you can spare 15 minutes on the ‘Connecting the dots’ video and express your critical suggestions, it would be useful for the work and also earnestly appreciated. Thomas.

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Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

On September 18, 2007, Carnegie Mellon professor and alumnus Randy Pausch delivered a one-of-a-kind last lecture that made the world stop and pay attention.

It became an internet sensation viewed by millions, an international media story, and a best-selling book that has been published in more than 35 languages. and it all started with randy », the last lecture: book & dvd.

Millions of copies have been sold, making "The Last Lecture" a favorite of kids, parents and teachers around the world. Fellow Carnegie Mellon alumnus, the late Jeff Zaslow , joined Randy Pausch in writing the book based on Randy's famous speech.

• About the book
• For educators (Disney Edition)

An Interview with Randy

Before his death in 2008, an interview was conducted asking Randy nearly 400 questions submitted by colleagues and students alike. Now you can ask Randy about his childhood, family, research and passions. His answers from this interview are moving, funny, thought provoking and extraordinary.

Ask Randy a question »

Carnegie Mellon

A faculty member, researcher and mentor at Carnegie Mellon, Randy was involved in a number of university departments and initiatives. Among those:

• School of Computer Science
• Human-Computer Interaction Institute
• Entertainment Technology Center

Has Randy's lecture impacted your life? Share your story.

Carnegie Mellon University , 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213   |   Contact Us

The Last Lecture

Randy pausch, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The Last Lecture recounts the life of Randy Pausch, from childhood until just before his death, which occurs a few months after the book’s publication. It opens with Randy stating that he has only a few months left to live, and he is a father to three young kids. Before learning that his cancer is terminal, Randy is asked to give a “Last Lecture” at Carnegie Mellon University. Once he learns that he is definitely dying, Randy considers cancelling the talk, largely thanks to prodding from his wife Jai . In the end, he decides it is important that he give one final lecture, in order to leave both a personal and professional legacy. He eventually lands on the topic of “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” because being in touch with his dreams is largely what makes Randy unique and successful.

Randy goes back in time to discuss his upbringing, with his encouraging working class father and pragmatic mom . Randy played football (learning discipline from Coach Graham ), was a science dork, and was allowed to paint his dreams onto the walls of his bedroom. One of Randy’s dreams was to float in zero gravity, which he was able to accomplish as an adult. Another was to make it to the NFL, and, though Randy never played football professionally, he learned the “ head fake ” through his attempt to do so. Randy’s family was obsessed with the World Book Encyclopedia, so it was a dream-come-true when the editors one day asked him to write up their new Virtual Reality entry. Randy also dreamed of becoming Captain Kirk, and, though Randy never gets to run the Enterprise, he does meet William Shatner in person and is wowed by his presence.

Randy was obsessed with winning giant stuffed animals as a kid, and he also loved Disneyland. He dreamed of growing up to become a Disney Imagineer (one of the people who design the rides). Though Randy’s application to work at Disney is initially rejected after grad school, he is eventually able to work on a virtual reality Aladdin ride with the Imagineers during a sabbatical as a professor.

In college, Randy goes to Brown University to study computer science, getting mentorship from Professor Andy Van Dam , who teaches him about feedback loops and gives Randy advice that makes him less of an arrogant jerk.

As an adult, Randy takes his sister Tammy ’s kids, Chris and Laura , under his wing, escorting them on adventures and teaching them valuable life lessons. He eventually asks them to do the same thing for his kids that he did for them. In his late 30’s, Randy meets Jai, his future wife. Though she is initially reluctant to enter a relationship with Randy, he succeeds in “Romancing the Brick Wall ” and gets Jai to move to Pittsburgh and then marry him. Randy recalls funny anecdotes of their relationship, like when he and Jai got swept away in a hot air balloon after their wedding, or when Jai backed her car into Randy’s car. Randy then delves into an intense episode in which Jai began bleeding during the seventh month of her first pregnancy. Randy keeps Jai calm while she has an emergency C-section, and both Dylan (the baby) and Jai end up being fine.

In 2006, Randy is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and he treats his disease as analytically as possible, undergoing any medical procedure the doctors recommend. However, in 2008 when Randy’s cancer returns, he receives a terminal diagnosis of three-to-six months to live.

Randy delves into advice he has for enabling the dreams of others (including his readers)—managing time as if it’s money, delegating responsibilities, taking time to get in touch with your inner thoughts, and listening to feedback from others. In regards to that last point, Randy recounts an anecdote in which an Obnoxious Student was unable to accept statistical feedback that he was a bad group member, so Randy had to tell the kid point-blank that he had a serious issue. This causes the kid to change his behavior, much like Randy did after Andy Van Dam spoke with him.

Randy discusses his work as a professor, like training a student ( Tommy Burnett ) who ended up working on Star Wars films. He explains how he co-created The Entertainment Technology Center, a two-year cross-disciplinary master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon focusing on interactive storytelling, virtual reality, transformational games, and innovation by design. Randy’s most ambitious project was Alice, a computer programming software that aims to teach kids how to code through making movies or creating video games (an example of the “ head fake ”). His former students have taken this project over in order to continue it after Randy’s death. Randy gives more advice about how to live life, which includes: be earnest instead of hip, learn to compromise, don’t complain (just work harder), don’t obsess over what other people think, watch what people do (and not what they say), embrace clichés, learn to apologize, be honest, be humble, never give up, be positive, listen to feedback, take time to show gratitude, and don’t be afraid to be the first one to try something.

Finally, Randy concludes the book by discussing his dream for his children, which is that they have dreams of their own and feel passionate about chasing them. Randy takes the opportunity to tell his kids and Jai what he loves about each of them. Randy discusses his and Jai’s relationship, saying that he has faith in her to find her way in the future without him. Randy then tells of the end of his last lecture—he had a birthday cake rolled out for Jai, and the crowd sang happy birthday. Randy then asked the crowd whether they figured out the head-fake of his lecture, which is that it’s not about how to achieve your dreams, but rather about how to live your life. Then he asks if they noticed the second head-fake: this lecture (and the book) isn’t just for the audience—it’s for Randy’s kids, so he can pass this piece of himself onto them.

Book Review: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

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The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is his memoir. It is his biography that narrates his last days after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. So, this is an uplifting and motivating story of a common man who suddenly finds that his living days are now numbered. How he decides to live his last days and what he does to leave behind a legacy for his children is beautifully described in this book. Full of motivational quotes, and life’s lessons, this book will alter your life for the better. So, read the book summary, book review, reading age, genre, and the motivational quotes in this post below.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Book Review:

What will you say?  What is it that you will convey to your loved ones, friends and colleagues before you die? What wisdom will you impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance to do so?

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Book Summary:

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon was asked to give such a lecture he didn’t have to imagine himself dying as he had been recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had only a few months to live.

Randy, a dying man wanted to leave a legacy for his children, a guide that would help them achieve their dreams, a medium to know their father who would soon be dead and not be a part of their lives. So he did what he was good at. Being a professor, he lectured and named it “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” .

If I were a painter, I would have painted for them. If I were a musician, I would have composed music. But I am a lecturer. So I lectured.” The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Quote

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Review:

It’s a touching journey and the last lecture that will force you to re-evaluate your life.

He was faced with the challenge to deliver a lecture which would be his last offering to everyone and that is what it became. An unforgettable legacy to people around the world about living your life to the fullest, enjoying each moment, achieving your dreams and adopting a never say die attitude.

Randy aptly named his last lecture as   “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”   which was not about dying. But about overcoming obstacles in your life, achieving your dreams while enabling the dreams of others, seizing each opportunity you get to make a memory because

…time is all you have… and you may find one day that you have less than you think.” The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Quote

As he said,

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Quote

and that’s what he did. He played the cards that were dealt to him to the best of his capabilities. Although he was dying but Randy was giving death a run for its money by not letting himself succumb to the grief, hopelessness and sadness associated with his condition. He was living his life, was busy creating memories with his kids and wife and preparing his family for life after his death.

This book is a legacy for his children as well as for everyone. It acts as an eyeopener to the fact that life is unpredictable and while we have it we should be grateful and never have any regret in our lives. He has combined his wisdom with humor, intelligence, inspiration and a moral that will be shared for generations.

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.” The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Quote

Things I liked:

Randy shares his experiences from his life and provides a deep insight into his life, his beliefs, his inspirations and the motives that drove him.

The experiences, situations, the decision phases that he faced feel valid for our lives also. The morals, conclusions, wisdom give a solution to some or the other situation that we faced or might be facing. The story is saddening but inspiring and leaves you feeling sad for the family and for Randy. I also felt cheated. Cheated of an opportunity to interact with this terrific guy because I got to know of this book and about him too late. He had already left this world.

Randy proved that no matter what card he was dealt he was capable to taking the best of it. He was a man who is an inspiration and will continue to inspire all through his book to go out there and succeed. Work hard and   “Dreams will come to you”. This one is my absolute favourite book of all time and a story that not only touched my heart but also inspired me at a time when I was drowning in my life. This is a book that moved me immensely and made me re-evaluate the choices that I was making. It inspired me to take chances and work hard to achieve my goals and even if I fail at least have the satisfaction of having tried.

Conclusion:

All in all, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch   is a must-have on everyone’s book list and is a compelling story of a dying man who lived thirty years in a matter of a few months. He enjoyed life till the very end and even in death came out a winner who never quit.

So, I give   The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch super shiny 5 out of 5 stars . An ultimate guide on how to live your life, Njkinny recommends it to everyone. 

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2 thoughts on “ book review: the last lecture by randy pausch ”.

Awe inspiring book. A must read for everyone.

yeah.. You are so correct.. 🙂

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Book Summary The Last Lecture , by Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, is a distillation of his life lessons and experiences. Written with reporter Jeffrey Zaslow, the best-selling book is an expanded version of a “Last Lecture” Pausch gave in 2007, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The “Last Lecture” series was a tradition in which professors presented their philosophy of life, as if it were their last chance to share what was important to them. It truly was a last chance for Pausch, who had only months to live. His book and lecture, which went viral and has been viewed by millions, are about living your dreams.

1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, recounts his life lessons and experiences. Written with reporter Jeffrey Zaslow, the best-selling book is an expanded version of a “Last Lecture” Pausch gave in 2007, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The “Last Lecture” series was a tradition in which professors presented their philosophy of life, as if it were their last chance to share what was important to them. It truly was a last chance for Pausch, who had only months to live. But more importantly, the lecture was his legacy for his three young children, who would grow up without him there to guide them.

His book and lecture, which went viral and has been viewed by millions, are about living your dreams . (View the lecture at https://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/ )

In summer 2006, Pausch experienced pain in his upper abdomen followed by jaundice. He at first thought he had hepatitis, but CT scans showed a tumor on his pancreas. Of all cancers, pancreatic cancer is the most deadly; half die within six months of diagnosis and 96% die within five years.

Pausch approached his treatment like a scientist, asking questions and seeking data . His goal was to live as long as possible for his family and to that end, he was willing to endure any potentially effective treatment no matter how miserable it made him feel. He underwent a complicated surgery called a “Whipple” procedure, which removed his gallbladder and part of his pancreas, stomach, and small intestine. This was followed by chemotherapy and radiation. However, tests seven months later, in August 2007, showed that the cancer had metastasized to his liver. His doctor said he probably had three to six months of good health remaining.

The day before the checkup, Pausch had told his wife Jai that regardless of the test results, for the moment, it felt great to be alive and be with her. That’s how he decided to live the rest of his life—focusing on the moment.

Childhood Dreams

Pausch and his older sister grew up in a middle-class community in Columbia, Maryland (suburban Baltimore), the children of an English teacher and an auto insurance salesman. He credited his positive childhood for the fact that he went on to achieve his dreams and live a fulfilling life.

One of the biggest ways his parents impacted him was by encouraging his imagination. For example, they allowed Pausch and his sister to paint his bedroom while he was in high school. Among other things, he painted a quadratic equation, an elevator (the house actually had just one floor), a periscope, a Pandora’s box, a rocket ship, and chess pieces.

Pausch had six childhood dreams : Winning the biggest stuffed animals at the carnival, playing in the NFL, writing an entry in the World Book Encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk of Star Trek , experiencing zero gravity, and becoming a designer or “Imagineer” for Disney.

Pausch never lost touch with his childhood dreams and, in various ways, he achieved them all.

He titled his Last Lecture “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” In it, he advised listeners to carry around a Crayon as a reminder of childhood aspirations.

Captain Kirk

As a boy with an interest in science, Pausch loved the TV show Star Trek and its hero, Captain Kirk—as well as the show’s space-age gadgets, including pocket communications devices much like today’s smartphones. Pausch met his idol when actor William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk, visited his virtual reality lab at Carnegie Mellon. Shatner wanted to learn about the latest technology for a book he was co-authoring about Star Trek devices that foreshadowed real technological advances.

When Shatner later learned of Pausch’s diagnosis, he sent Pausch a signed photo of Kirk, inscribed with a line from the Star Trek movie The Wrath of Khan : “I don’t believe in...

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The Last Lecture Summary Introduction

When computer science professor Randy Pausch was invited to deliver a “Last Lecture” at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in September 2007, he’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The Last Lecture was a Carnegie Mellon speaker series in which professors were invited to present their philosophy of life, imagining the lecture was their last chance to share personal and professional life lessons.

In Pausch’s case, it really was a last chance to impart life lessons—he’d been given just months to live. But more importantly, he viewed the lecture as his legacy for his three young children, who would grow up without him there to guide them.

Pausch’s lecture, titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” quickly went viral and was viewed by millions around the world ...

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The Last Lecture Summary Part 1: The Last Lecture

When Pausch is invited to give a “Last Lecture,” the series has been renamed “Journeys,” and speakers are to talk about their “personal and professional journeys.” When he accepts the invitation months in advance, he’s optimistic about his prognosis. However, when it comes time to provide the title and an abstract, he wonders whether working on a lecture is the best use of the time he has left.

His wife, Jai (pronounced Jay), wants him to spend his time with the family rather than on preparing a lecture. Plus, he’ll have to travel to Pittsburgh from the family’s new home in Virginia the day before the lecture, which is Jai’s birthday—the last she’ll be able to celebrate with her husband.

But the idea of the lecture lingers as something he could leave his children, a way to say goodbye to his university colleagues, and a chance to cement his legacy and do a last bit of good. He tells Jai, “An injured lion still wants to roar.”

They decide to go ahead with it. The talk will be about living rather than dying and will focus on an aspect of his life that he feels makes him unique—he’s managed to fulfill every one of his seemingly outlandish childhood dreams. He wants the lecture...

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Shortform Exercise: Your Last Lecture

Carnegie Mellon University and others have a tradition of inviting professors to present a “Last Lecture,” as though it were their last chance to share personal and professional life lessons.

If you were invited to give a “Last Lecture,” what would your title be? What sentence or phrase sums up your life so far?

The Last Lecture Summary Part 2: Fulfilling Childhood Dreams

Always an imaginative child, Pausch had six dreams: Winning the biggest stuffed animals at the carnival, playing in the NFL, writing an entry in the World Book Encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk of Star Trek , experiencing zero gravity, and becoming a designer or “Imagineer” at Disney. In various ways, he achieved them all.

Stuffed Animals

When Pausch was a child, he and his father took pride in winning giant stuffed animals at carnivals and amusement parks. Carrying around a giant stuffed animal won in a game of skill, such as shooting at cutouts of ducks or tossing rings at bottles, always drew admiring looks.

There were only two requirements for becoming the envy of the carnival: a pocket full of change and a long reach, which helped during the ring toss (you could lean toward the target and throw). Pausch says he never cheated, although he amassed so many stuffed animals and posed in so many photos with them that others sometimes doubted he’d won them all.

He displayed some of them at his Last Lecture and invited audience members to take them afterward—he didn’t want his wife to have to deal with the clutter of oversize stuffed animals after he died. After the...

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Shortform Exercise: What Was Your Dream?

Randy Pausch achieved his childhood dreams, partly by staying in touch with them and continuing to nurture his imagination.

Describe your most memorable childhood dream or aspiration. How old were you when you had it? What did you do with it?

The Last Lecture Summary Part 3: Lessons Learned

In summer 2006, Pausch experienced pain in his upper abdomen, followed by jaundice. He at first thought he had hepatitis, but CT scans showed a tumor on his pancreas. Of all cancers, pancreatic cancer is the most deadly; half of those who get it die within six months of diagnosis and 96% die within five years.

Pausch approached his treatment like a scientist, asking questions and seeking data. His goal was to live as long as possible for his family and to that end, he was willing to endure any potentially effective treatment, no matter how miserable it made him. He underwent a complicated surgery called a “Whipple” procedure, which removed his gallbladder and part of his pancreas, stomach, and small intestine. This was followed by chemotherapy and radiation. He lost 44 pounds from the brutal regimen, but scans in January showed no additional signs of cancer.

However, tests seven months later in August 2007 showed that the cancer had metastasized to his liver. Pausch and his wife learned the bad news from looking at his charts on the doctor’s computer while waiting for his appointment. The next step was palliative treatment (more chemo) to ease his symptoms to...

Shortform Exercise: Brick Walls

Pausch liked to tell his students that when you run into brick walls, they’re an opportunity for you to demonstrate how badly you want something.

Think of a time when something threatened to prevent you from getting what you wanted. What did you want and what was the obstacle?

The Last Lecture Summary Part 4: Keys to Success

As a professor, Pausch viewed his role as not just teaching his subject—computer science—but also teaching them how to succeed in life. The rest of the book presents his favorite principles and tips, including those highlighted in his Last Lecture plus some additional tips.

Value Your Time

Even before he got cancer, Pausch believed strongly in managing time well and emphasized this to his students. His key principles were:

• Manage your time like your money . In other words, don’t throw your time away. Spending time on irrelevant details is as useless as polishing the underside of a banister.
• Make a to-do list . To-do lists are useful for budgeting your time, but it’s important to break big tasks into smaller steps. For instance, you accomplish cleaning your room by picking up one thing at a time.
• Prioritize . Are you doing the most important things? Pausch recalled seeing a newspaper photo of a pregnant woman who worried that noise from a construction site would hurt her unborn child. But in the photo accompanying the story, she’s smoking, which is a more immediate, and probably bigger, danger.
• Create a filing system . If you don’t maintain an...

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The Last Lecture Summary Part 5: Advice for Living

Pausch believed everyone has a choice in life to be like one of two Winnie-the-Pooh characters: you can be like fun-loving, exuberant Tigger or like gloomy Eeyore.

Throughout his life, Pausch was a Tigger, looking for the fun in everything. Even having cancer didn’t turn him into an Eeyore—he made a point of having fun each day he had left. For instance, for his last Halloween, he and his family dressed like the Disney superheroes, the Incredibles. He posted a photo on his website, with a caption noting that chemotherapy hadn’t affected his superpowers, which was a reference to the costume’s exaggerated muscles.

He took a scuba-diving trip with three old friends (all Tiggers), and despite an awareness that it was their last time together, they focused on the moment, joking and making fun of each other. The others poked fun at Pausch for the “St. Randy of Pittsburgh” reputation he had acquired after giving his Last Lecture.

Pausch vowed to hold onto his Tigger persona to the end, saying there wasn’t any “upside” to being a sad Eeyore.

Words to Live By

Here’s more of Pausch’s advice for how to live, based on how he tried to live his life.

Dream big : When men...

Shortform Exercise: Tigger or Eeyore?

Pausch urged his audience to choose which Winnie the Pooh character they wanted to be—the exuberant Tigger or gloomy Eeyore.

Are you mostly a Tigger or an Eeyore? Why do you say that?

The Last Lecture Summary Part 6: Final Thoughts

The thought of his children growing up without him was one of the most difficult for Pausch to bear. Because they were too young for deep conversations about life and death, he simply tried to create memories that would later remind them of his love for them.

Besides spending as much time as possible with them, he created adventures for each child—for instance, he and Dylan went swimming with dolphins. In addition to creating a photo and video record of their times together, Pausch wrote out lists of what he loved about each child. He made videos telling each child what they meant to him.

He admired his son Dylan for being loving and empathetic in trying to comfort other children when they were hurt. He also liked Dylan’s analytical bent, curiosity, and his habit of noticing things and asking detailed questions. Pausch cited his son Logan’s physicality, energy, and...

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The Last Lecture

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By Randy Pausch

With Jeffrey Zaslow

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"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." —Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull over the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have . . . and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living .

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

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Keeping Priorities Straight, Even at the End

By Tara Parker-Pope

• April 8, 2008

As a professor of computer sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, Randy F. Pausch expected students to pay attention to his lectures. He never expected that the rest of the world would listen, too.

But today, more than 10 million people have tuned into Dr. Pausch’s last lecture, a whimsical and poignant talk about Captain Kirk, zero gravity and achieving childhood dreams. The 70-minute talk, at www.cmu.edu/randyslecture, has been translated into seven languages, and this week Hyperion is publishing “The Last Lecture,” a book by Dr. Pausch and a collaborator, Jeff Zaslow, that tells the story behind the story of the lecture.

“The whole thing is very strange,” Dr. Pausch said over lunch at a diner near Norfolk, Va. “I just gave a talk. I gave talks my whole life.”

But of course, this wasn’t just any talk. “Let’s not ignore the obvious,” he said. “If I’d given that lecture but I weren’t dying, it wouldn’t have had the gravitas. Context is everything.”

Dr. Pausch, 47, is dying of pancreatic cancer, a disease that kills 95 percent of its victims, usually within months of diagnosis. Except for a pill bottle on the table in front of him, there were no outward signs of the deadly tumors growing inside him. Though he had just recently recovered from heart and kidney failure, he looked boyish, with a red knit shirt and a head of thick dark-brown hair.

Last fall, after doctors told him that he would probably have no more than six months of good health, Dr. Pausch stepped down from his academic duties and relocated to be closer to his family. But he decided to give one last lecture to a roomful of students and faculty members at Carnegie Mellon.

The lecture was not about cancer. Instead, he says, it was simply a father’s effort to digest a lifetime of advice for his children into one talk — a talk that Dr. Pausch knew he would not be around long enough to deliver in person. The children are Dylan, 6; Logan, 4; and Chloe, almost 2.

Although he could have set it up on a home video, he liked the idea that one day they would watch his last lecture and see their dad at work, in his element.

“I’m speaking only to them,” he said. “I didn’t set out to tell the world about how to live life.”

After Mr. Zaslow, a Carnegie Mellon alumnus who is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, wrote about the talk, it quickly became an Internet sensation.

With the clarity of thought that perhaps only a person facing death can muster, Dr. Pausch, in his lecture and his book, outlines his recipe for a happy life and achieving dreams.

He talks of reaching his childhood goals of experiencing zero gravity, writing an article in the World Book Encyclopedia, winning giant stuffed animals at amusement parks and being a Disney “imagineer.” Much of his talk is about tenacity and how he managed to scale the “brick walls” that stood in the way of achieving some of his dreams. Other lessons are those that all parents hope to teach their children — show gratitude, tell the truth, no job is beneath you.

And he urges parents to let their children draw on the bedroom walls — where the young Randy Pausch painted a quadratic equation, a rocket, an elevator and, from one of his favorite stories, Pandora’s box. At the bottom of the box, he added the word “Hope” that a friend later preceded with “Bob.”

Dr. Pausch says he is trying to use his unexpected celebrity to draw attention to the lack of financing for pancreatic cancer research. Testifying before Congress on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org), he showed a picture of his family. “This is my widow,” he said pointing to his wife, Jai. “That’s not a grammatical construction you get to use every day, but there aren’t many diseases where you know it will be fatal.”

Because Dr. Pausch has outlived his initial prognosis, a few bloggers have begun to speculate that he is not really dying. Doctors at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the University of Pittsburgh have confirmed Dr. Pausch’s diagnosis and treatment.

“There’s nothing to be cynical about in how he’s choosing to approach these last months of his life,” said Robbee Kosak, vice president for university advancement at Carnegie Mellon. “He’s always been very passionate. He’s always very pragmatic. He knows exactly what his priorities are. People like Randy are so rare. We should all be really happy that so many of us have had a chance now to see that it’s possible to live your life with passion and energy and candor.”

Although Dr. Pausch let Diane Sawyer prepare a one-hour special for ABC-TV about his talk and cancer battle that will be broadcast on Wednesday evening, he has turned down movie offers and even declined an approach from a documentary filmmaker. “It was time I didn’t have,” he said.

Dr. Pausch said that his wife persuaded him to write the book, but that he was worried it would take too much time away from the children. Because he rode his bike every day to keep up his strength, he spoke with his co-writer, Mr. Zaslow, by phone on 53 one-hour bike rides.

The real wisdom of Dr. Pausch is that he tries to enjoy every day he has left with his family, while at the same time trying to prepare them for life without him. To that end, he is videotaping himself spending time with Dylan, Logan and Chloe so they can look back and see how he felt about them.

“I’ve always said I only care about the first three copies of the book,” Dr. Pausch said. “The lessons learned are the lessons I’ve learned and what worked for me. But so many people wrote to me and said, ‘This was a jumping-off point to have conversations with my kids we haven’t had.’ ”

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