Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.
Randy PauschRead
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. A professor’s job is to teach students how to see their minds growing in the same way they can see their muscles grow when they look in a mirror.
Interpretation
Effort in learning leads to visible growth, just like physical training.
Randy Pausch emphasizes that just as individuals can witness tangible results from their physical workouts at the gym, the same should apply to academic pursuits in college. A professor's role is to facilitate this learning process, helping students recognize and appreciate the growth of their intellect and understanding, mirroring the visible development of their physical bodies when they exercise.
In practice
In a speech about personal development, you might quote this to inspire students.
Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.
I'm attempting to put myself in a bottle that will one day wash up on the beach for my children.
It's hard to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer - people who get it don't live long enough.
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Above all, those to whom the care of young minds has been entrusted should see to it that they respect both the smallest and largest animals as beings which, like people, have been summoned to the joy of life.
Reading papers and memorizing them doesn't make you a good researcher.
I've read plenty of amazing science pieces where the writers don't hang out in labs. I just have fun doing it. And I get rewarded for it; I get gushy, especially when kids tell me they expected to be bored by my books, but weren't.
Obviously, Jay-Z is one of the greatest entertainers of the world today. Not only is he a remarkable rhetorical genius, he's also a man of deep sympathy and empathy for those who are lost and vulnerable, but especially under-educated youth of all cultures and stripes.
There is little doubt that our society is changing rapidly, but one thing will never change as long as we remain a democracy: the need for voters to know the essentials of our history and government.
Eighty percent of the cases used in the typical MBA program are about successful companies. Students graduate with this notion that 'If I do everything that the people in those cases did, then my organization will grow and be successful, too.'
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