Many lecturers deliver speeches with the title “The Last Lecture.” It is required of professors to contemplate their mortality and to give thought to the things that are most important to them. And as they do so, the crowds listening to them can’t help but ponder the same question: what advice would we give to the people of the globe if we knew it was our final chance? What would we want to be remembered for if our existence had to end tomorrow?
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch [Download pdf Below]
When Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, was requested to deliver such a lecture, he didn’t have to worry about whether or not it would be his final one because he had recently been informed that he had terminal cancer. But the talk he delivered, titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” was not about passing away.
It was about the significance of conquering challenges, making other people’s goals a reality, and making the most of every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a synthesis of all that Randy had ultimately come to believe. It had to do with living.
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Randy Pausch has taken the comedy, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a sensation and given it a form that will leave a lasting impression with this book. It is the kind of book that will be read and discussed for many years.
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