25 The Last Lecture Quotes From the New York Times Best Selling Book

Check out The Last Lecture quotes from the impactful book about the last advice of a dying man.

The Last Lecture is a farewell book by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow that was written based on the Last Lecture that Professor Pausch gave when he had terminal pancreatic cancer.

The book was published by Hyperion in 2008 and quickly became a New York Times bestseller.

Pausch was a highly regarded professor at Carnegie Mellon University and was named “Person of the Year” by ABC News and one of the most influential people in the world.

The final opportunity to leave his advice, stories, lessons learned, and legacy came together beautifully in this bestselling book.

Take a look at these The Last Lecture quotes to learn more about the impactful book.

The Best The Last Lecture Quotes 

Here are some of the best The Last Lecture quotes. 

1. “No job is beneath you.” — Randy Pausch 

2. “People are more important than things.” — Randy Pausch 

3. “Complaining does not work as a strategy.” — Randy Pausch

4. “I’ve always admired people who are over-prepared.” — Randy Pausch 

5. “Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.” — Randy Pausch 

6. “When we’re connected to others, we become better people.” — Randy Pausch 

7. “You can always change your plan, but only if you have one.” — Randy Pausch 

8. “No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.” — Randy Pausch 

9. “A good apology is like antibiotics; a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound.” — Randy Pausch 

10. “A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.” — Randy Pausch 

Thought-Provoking The Last Lecture Quotes 

Check out thought-provoking The Last Lecture quotes. 

11. “There are more ways than one to measure profits and losses.” — Randy Pausch 

12. “Too many are unhappy with the idea of starting at the bottom.” — Randy Pausch 

13. “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted .” — Randy Pausch 

14. “The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things?” — Randy Pausch 

15. “Most people who have told a lie think they got away with it…when in fact, they didn’t.” — Randy Pausch 

16. “You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.” — Randy Pausch 

17. “There’s a lot of talk these days about giving children self-esteem. It’s not something you can give; it’s something they have to build.” — Randy Pausch 

Inspirational The Last Lecture Quotes 

Take a look at inspirational The Last Lecture quotes. 

18. “Take a time out. It’s not a real vacation if you’re reading email or calling in for messages.” — Randy Pausch 

19. “I’ve found that a substantial fraction of many people’s days is spent worrying about what others think of them.” — Randy Pausch 

20. “Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface.” — Randy Pausch 

21. “The great thing about working out at a gym is that if you put in effort, you get very obvious results. The same should be true of college.” — Randy Pausch 

22. “It’s a thrill to fulfill your own childhood dreams, but as you get older, you may find that enabling the dreams of others is even more fun.” — Randy Pausch 

23. “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.” — Randy Pausch 

24. “People lie for lots of reasons, often because it seems like a way to get what they want with less effort. But like many short-term strategies, it’s ineffective long-term.” — Randy Pausch 

25. “And even though I did not reach the NFL, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.” — Randy Pausch 

What is the Purpose of the Book?

When Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he tried treatment, but that didn’t work, and he was told his cancer was terminal.

The book was meant to be a farewell to his loved ones and to lend advice to his children that they would need one day, and he would not be around to give at that time.

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