If you're new here, you may want to learn what this site is about. I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Last summer, Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, learned that the pancreatic cancer he was fighting had metastasized, and that he only had months to live. A few weeks later, he delivered his “last lecture”, a talk meant to impart the wisdom he’d gained during his lifetime.
Pausch’s presentation, entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” was a huge internet phenomenon, and was downloaded more than 10,000,000 times. Many Get Rich Slowly readers sent me links to the video. I watched it twice (and bought the book), but I never wrote about it. I’m not sure why not. It had a profound impact on me. It’s inspiring. It’s full of zest for life and praise for dreams.
Randy Pausch died this morning at age 47. Here is the complete video of his “last lecture”:
If you haven’t watched this before, I urge you to do so now. And then go pursue some of your childhood dreams.
See also:
Rest in peace, Randy, and thank you.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I’m so sorry to hear that he has passed!
I remember watching him on 60 minutes (or some other show?) a year or so ago about his amazing speech that he gave!
I will miss him as I’m sure millions of others will!
July 25th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
JD,
I was going to email you letting you know I thought you should write at least a blurb about him. What an inspiration; just a stand-up guy. My heart goes out for his family.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
This video is missing the introduction, which was quite interesting. If you’re going to watch it (and you should), it’s worth searching for the one that includes the introduction.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
So sorry to hear of this news today. Such an inspirational man!
July 25th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
This man did more good in ten months than an average person like me would do in ten lifetimes.
I wonder if he’d had the choice, what would he choose? If Dr Pausch knew the good he would do in those ten months for the world at large, would he choose to have those brief ten months and an enormous impact, or would he choose to have a long life?
Not that it matters, but it’s something I’ve been wondering off and on today.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Rian,
Interesting question to pose. My personal thoughts on that - I think he would have chosen a long life. When somebody has, and loves, a family as he had and did, it’s pretty much a no brainer.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I was a huge Pausch fan and have listened to that speech several times.
@Steven: Agreed on the intro–I love how he ends the opening applause with “Make me earn it.” That single statement really summed up the kind of guy he was.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I read about his story a couple months back and I didn’t hear anymore about it.
Today the news of his death is prevalent among blogs. The video is very inspirational and it reminds me of the need to live everyday to the fullest.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:53 am
I was sad to hear of his passing, but that lecture (and I’ve watched it a lot) is very moving. Brilliant, in fact.
July 26th, 2008 at 5:16 am
He did a lot of amazing work in his lifetime, and accomplished so much. I’m sad to hear that he passed, but I know he was at peace with his life. I hope we can all find peace like that.
July 26th, 2008 at 5:42 am
i included a similar video on my blog too. i was just so sad to learn that he died. i’m sad his kids won’t get to see his amazing example of living in real life.
July 26th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Peter S,
I came to the same conclusion you did.
July 26th, 2008 at 6:17 am
I saw that last night…I’d checked his website recently, and it sounded like he was still doing ok. I’m very sad for his family.
July 26th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Shoot, that is not how I wanted to start off this morning, learning that the good Doctor died…
His video was very inspiring to me. I’ve watched it several times
July 26th, 2008 at 10:01 am
OK, please no flames: Honest question here.
I TRIED to watch his video months ago, when I first heard about the Pausch phenomenon. Couldn’t get past the first 5 or so minutes. Major yawn.
so what’s so special? Really — and I am NOT trying to be snarky, I really want to learn.
thanks in advance.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Watched the video months ago after Michel Fortin sent me the link. I had intended to watch the first five minutes or so and watch the rest later in the week.
It was so powerful, moving, entertaining, witty, relevant I ended up watching the entire thing.
I then bought the DVD from Carnegie Mellon and to my chagrin I have not even opened the cardboard sleeve. I guess it’s now the best time to watch it again. This time with my two kids.
Pausch knew he was going to die a not particularly nice death and yet his only concern was for those close to him and those who made a difference in his life.
I urge every one to watch because once you see how this most genuine of men deals with a horror most of us will never face you will see as I did that in the end all that really matters in life is that we make the most of ourselves, each and every minute of each and every day.
RIP Randy Pausch.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I was encouraged on another message board (totally unrelated to finance or motivation) that I should watch this video. So I did. Granted he’s a charismatic person, funny, and a great lecturer, I didn’t learn anything new here. I think what concerns me most is that this spread like wildfire and helped a lot of people. Do they not know these things already? It’s a little disconcerting that people haven’t figurerd this out in life yet. He has a great outlook on life that everyone else should know instinctively, but apparently they don’t - that is a real tragedy.
That being said, it’s a shame he died so young and left behind a young family. Fortunately it looks like they will be taken care of financially and they will have many records of their father and the type of person he was.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:44 am
To Artdog:
I can understand why you didn’t watch the entire video. It is a little heavy starting out, but gets much better as it goes along.
I suggest reading all of the comments above, and see what Randy’s story meant to others, then read at least the first couple of chapters of his book. I would like his book to be on every high school and college reading list - it’s a very inspiring and empowering story.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
You know when i watched this i realized i knew lots of the ideas Randy presented. However, there is something that hits home to hear it from a man whose life is cut so short and he knows it. What a wonderful lecturer and i’m sure a wonderful man.
It could have been any of us… that’s what makes it so special… would we have the grace, bravery, love and frame of mind to make it the best it can be?
July 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
KC: I’m with you there. But, it’s not so much WHAT he’s saying (basically it’s a summary of his life sprinkled with some amusing anecdotes), but HOW he is saying it. I’ve never seen someone accepting and embracing his deadly prognosis in such a graceful way. He is so self-confident it’s almost obscene. There is one part where he describes how someone carefully explained to him that he came across as arrogant when he started his academic career, and that didn’t surprise me. But I guess he has a right to be that way, because he IS brilliant.
That aside, I must admit I was close to tears when I watched the lecture last night at 2am. A very moving and inspirational presentation.
July 26th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
For those that didn’t get what the big deal was, no, he wasn’t saying anything ground-breaking, but as others have said, it’s how he says it. How a man who knows his days are limited, who knows he won’t grow old with his wife or see his kids grow up, can still have so much grace, happiness, and love within them. It’s in the way he’s content to see his life’s work carried on by others, and he’s at peace with all he’s done. I don’t think everyone could say the same about their life if they were suddenly given months to live…that they know they lived it up and accomplished everything they wanted.
If it were me, I think I might feel ripped off and bitter, and scared because I’ve seen what it’s like to die from pancreatic cancer, and it’s a horrible way to die. I’d like to think I could have this man’s dignity and grace, but after seeing two close family members slowly killed by cancer and the nightmare they endured, I know just how much it says about him that he could have such a positive outlook when faced with terminal cancer.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Amazing man! Thats all I can say.
July 26th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
April: ditto.
He was a brave, compassionate man. I’m sad to hear he is gone. the world needs more like him.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
@Artdogs: Here’s a transcript: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf
I also thought the lecture video was incredibly tedious.
July 27th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
The lecture is not a thrilling roller coaster ride, it is a 75 min lecture. I think in this age of the web the attention spans are lower and people are in this mode of thrill me or I’ll change the channel, and you end up with a lot of lowest common denominator, 30 second long videos where a baby gets tackled by a cat, which I admit, I find hilarious. You don’t watch this video of a lecture for a quick thrill, you watch it because you want to spend 75 minutes thinking about how best to live your life. I think that mindset when you start watching it will help you get through the first couple of minutes. I watched it from the standpoint of considering the subtext of the lecture (which is I think what others are saying here too), how it was structured, and what was included.
This man was giving the lecture of his life, knowing that he was going to get a large audience to say whatever he felt like saying. That doesn’t mean that automatically what he says is going to be meaningful. The fact that he spent the majority of the lecture focusing on helping others and how others have helped him was what struck me.
Also, the lecture is steeped in the philosophy of doing what you love, and doing it the best that you possibly can. Doing hard things, learning hard things, and making them fun. Are these things that everyone knows, that everyone already practices? Clearly not, as this blog often points out, many are stuck in jobs they don’t enjoy, doing things they don’t find meaningful or enjoyable. That is why I question the comments above that “this is not groundbreaking/meaningful material.”
July 28th, 2008 at 10:08 am
His book says a lot about his dreams, goals and lifestyle. There’s a part in the book that mentions how people joked about what kind of women he’d attract renting a $450/month little attic/basement close to campus. It was sort of run down but it worked for him.
Jai clearly fell in love with him despite his bare minimum living quarters. It’s what matters inside that counts. That’s sort of a good PF advice to glean from - it doesn’t matter how you look or what type of material possessions you have, it’s the person on the inside that matters.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Bear in mind that he is giving this speech to university kids, not 40-something adults. He is aiming to give direction and advice to people in the middle of changing lives and dreams, and I think he does a great job in that light.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Randy it truly a great loss and will be missed. I knew of Randy before he got sick, he was the role model who got me involved in teaching computer science.
I was just at Carnegie Mellon a couple of weeks ago attending an Alice workshop put on by his colleagues … you can tell he did great things for the University and others. I can’t imagine how the good people at CMU and how Randy’s family and friends are holding up. I wish them the best.
Randy also gave a great talk on Time Management and you can watch it here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758
Eight: Randy actually gave this last lecture for his kids. When he delivered it, he wanted it to be directed towards them so the could view it after his passing.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:19 am
I have a lot of respect for Randy Pausch and urge anyone who hasn’t seen the last lecture to take the time to do so!
Not sure if I’m allowed to post links but if you want to download it instead of watching on youtube
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=oarjehdw
Heres a link
July 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I’m surprised some people found it tedious/boring. I have a pretty short attention span and didn’t know anything about his field of study (virtual reality), but had no problem watching the entire thing. He’s funny and a really good speaker. The stuff he said certainly has been said before, but are things people need reminded of. If you can watch it and say, wow, I’ve lived my life as well as Randy has, then you’re one of the awesome people who doesn’t need reminded.
In general, it’s anecdotal, interesting, and really moving, and it would have been whether he had cancer or not. I would give it another chance.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I finally watched the whole thing today. As others have said, it isn’t what he’s saying so much as how he says it.
Personal finance is the same way, right? We all know we should save money. We all know we shouldn’t buy that plasma TV on 25% interest. But some of us do. And some of us need to hear how to avoid those problems or how to get out of the hole.
Consistent reminders = reliable life change.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:25 am
More words of wisdom from Randy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcYv5×6gZTA