Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.
Randy PauschRead
I was hugely impressed... was the ultimate example of a man who knew what he didn't know, was perfectly willing to admit it, and didn't want to leave until he understood. That's heroic to me. I wish every grad student had that attitude.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of humility and the desire to learn, portraying these traits as heroic.
Randy Pausch's quote celebrates the virtue of recognizing one's limitations in knowledge and the courage to seek understanding. He admires those who, rather than pretending to know everything, acknowledge what they do not know and actively work to learn more, suggesting that this mindset is particularly valuable in the academic realm. Pausch wishes for all graduate students to adopt this attitude, as it fosters growth, humility, and a deeper appreciation for knowledge.
In practice
During a graduation speech to inspire students to embrace lifelong learning.
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.
Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want
Cancer didn't change me at all. I know lots of people talk about the life revelation. I didn't have that.
I think that we all stand on the dartboard of life. Roughly 30,000 people a year are going to catch a dart labeled pancreatic cancer, and that's unfortunate. It's not what I would have chosen. But I in no way feel like I deserved it.
Tragedy, loss, and hurt often arrive unanticipated. How we react when we are surprised will tell our families whether what we have taught and testified lies deep in our hearts.
Logical activity is not the whole of intelligence. One can be intelligent without being particularly logical.
I never knew an early-rising, hard-working, prudent man, careful of his earnings and strictly honest, who complained of hard luck. A good character, good habits and iron industry are impregnable to the assaults of all ill-luck that fools ever dreamed.
I have all my life long been lying in bed till noon; yet I tell all young men, and tell them with great sincerity, that nobody who does not rise early will ever do any good.
Its not a story in which the characters grow up, but a story in which they draw on something already inside them, brought out by the particular circumstances. I want my young friends to live like that, and I think they, too, have such a wish.
Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like.
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