This document provides a summary of Randy Pausch's book "The Last Lecture". Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Despite his diagnosis, he delivered an upbeat last lecture at the university titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" which became very popular on YouTube. The book documents the central ideas from his lecture, including enabling the dreams of others, achieving your dreams through hard work, facing obstacles with determination, focusing on other people, and making the most of the time you have.

1. Book Review: “The Last Lecture”
Author: Randy Pausch
(with Jeffrey Zaslow)
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www.profmanishparihar.blogspot.com

2. About the author
PhD in Computer Science;
Professor at Carnegie Mellon
University from 1988-2007
• A teacher and researcher, and
worked with
Adobe, Google, Electronic Arts
(EA), and Walt Disney
Imagineering, and pioneered Prof. Randy Pausch
the non-profit Alice project.
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3. At the peak of his career,
Pausch learned that he
had pancreatic cancer in
September 2006, and in
August 2007 he was
given a terminal Randy with his wife Jai
diagnosis of 3 to 6 And his three kids,
Dylan, Logan, and Chloe
months of ‘good health
left’.
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4. Instead of blaming and going
down with depression, Prof.
Pausch went all out to do
things that would secure his
family’s future..
Moved to a new home,
settled down with his family
near his in-laws so that they
could have emotional
support..
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5. And decided to deliver ‘the last lecture’ at
Carnegie Mellon University
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6. He gave an upbeat lecture
titled “Really Achieving
Your Childhood Dreams" on
September 18, 2007, at
Carnegie Mellon, which
became a popular YouTube
video with more than 10
million hits in just one
month..
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7. The lecture was picked up by
the mainstream media and
was also converted into a
book with the help of Jeffrey
Zaslow, a columnist for the
Wall Street Journal..
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8. Central Ideas of the book / lecture:
• His childhood dreams
• Enabling the dreams of others
• Lessons learnt: How you can achieve your
dreams or enable the dreams of others..
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10. See the glass of life as “half-full”
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just
how we play the hand. If I don't seem as
depressed or morose as I should be, I'm sorry
to disappoint you.”
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12. “Dreaming big…
But not day-dreaming..
Then working hard to achieve those
dreams”
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14. 14

15. Circumnavigate your obstacles..
“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.”
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16. “The brick walls are there to stop the
people who don't want it badly enough.
They are there to stop the other people!”
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17. ‘Experience is what you get when you didn't
get what you wanted.’
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19. • After diagnosis of cancer, Pausch had just over
a year to accomplish things that most of us
cannot in our entire life-times..!
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20. 20

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24. Be patient with the students..
Wait long enough and people will surprise and
impress you.
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25. Don’t limit their creativity
You obviously don't know where the bar should
be, and you're only going to do a disservice
by putting it anywhere.
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26. The Head Fake
The best way to teach somebody something is
to have them think they're learning
something else.
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28. More ‘You’ than ‘I’
Focus on other people, not on yourself. Find
the best in everybody..
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29. Do not tell people how to live their lives. Just
tell them stories. And they will figure out
how those stories apply to them.
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30. Don’t be serious..
Be sincere (Chetan Bhagat)
Be earnest.. (Randy Pausch)
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31. Live in the ‘now’
It is not the things we do in life that we regret
on our death bed. It is the things we do not.
Find your passion and follow it.
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33. 24th December 2011
Thank You !
www.profmanishparihar.blogspot.com
Sources: The last lecture official website,
Wikipedia and several pictures from
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Google images.