Review: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow

The actual lecture is better (go watch it on YouTube!), but the book is pretty good too.

Professors are often asked to give a “Last Lecture” where they imagine what they would talk about if it was their last chance. Randy Pausch was a Carnegie Melon professor who was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer at the age of 47, so his Last Lecture required no imagining. The lecture he gave—and this book, which is essentially a longer version of the lecture—is about achieving your childhood dreams and how to live life.

Given the somber context, the Last Lecture is surprisingly uplifting. It’s full of nuggets of wisdom, fun stories, and important lessons. Pausch seems like a great guy, who accomplished a lot in his life, and had a wonderful attitude while he did it. I don’t agree with all the advice in the book—there are quite a few overly-simplified platitudes and a few parts that only apply to his unique situation (e.g., privileged white male)—but the real charm of this book is that it forces you to consider what’s important in your own life. What would you talk about at your last lecture? How would you feel about your life if you had to give that lecture next week?

As always, I’ve saved a few of my favorite quotes:

“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. Coach Graham worked in a no-coddling zone. Self-esteem? He knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to develop it: You give them something they can’t do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.”

“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”

“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.”

“Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.”

“Go out and do for others what somebody did for you.”

Rating: 5 stars