“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. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“When it comes to men who are romantically interested in you, it’s really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have. ”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life, ... If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Look, I'm going to find a way to be happy, and I'd really love to be happy with you, but if I can't be happy with you, then I'll find a way to be happy without you.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. ”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“It's not how hard you hit. It's how hard you get hit...and keep moving forward.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I've always believed that if you took one tenth the enrgy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“When we're connected to others, we become better people.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Another way to be prepared is to think negatively. Yes, I'm a great optimist. but, when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst case scenario. I call it 'the eaten by wolves factor.' If I do something, what's the most terrible thing that could happen? Would I be eaten by wolves? One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist, is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose. There are a lot of things I don't worry about, because I have a plan in place if they do.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“The questions are always more important than the answers.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“A good apology is like antibiotic, a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“People are more important than things.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“You can always change you plan, but only if you have one.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“No job is beneath you.
You ought to be thrilled you got a job in the mailroom And when you get there, here's what you do: Be really great at sorting mail. ”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“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.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Are you a Tigger or an Eyore?”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“All my adult life I've felt drawn to ask long-married couples how they were able to stay together. All of them said the same thing: "We worked hard at it.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“I know you're smart. But everyone here is smart. Smart isn't enough. The kind of people I want on my research team are those who will help everyone feel happy to be here. ”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblivious to all the pitfalls.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“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... Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
“Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes.”
― Randy Pausch, quote from The Last Lecture
Randy Pausch
Born place: in The United States
Born date October 23, 1960
See more on GoodReads
“Moreover, the attitude that one ought to believe such and such a proposition, independently of the question whether there is evidence in its favor, is an attitude which produces hostility to evidence and causes us to close our minds to every fact that does not suit our prejudices.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
“The Thing cannot be described - there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order. A mountain walked or stumbled.
If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; but it was the general outline of the whole which made it most shockingly frightful.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, quote from The Call of Cthulhu
“Hope is cruel. Hope reminds me of what almost was. Hope makes the physical ache return.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years
“These last weeks, since Christmas, have been odd ones. I have begun to doubt that I knew you as well as I thought. I have even wondered if you wished to keep some part of yourself hidden from me in order to preserve your privacy and your autonomy. I will understand if you refuse to give me an answer tonight, and although I freely admit I will be hurt by such a refusal, you must not allow my feelings to influence your answer." I looked up into his face. "The question I have for you, then is this: How are the fairies in your garden?"
By the yellow streetlights, I saw the trepidation that had been building up in face give way to a flash of relief, then to the familiar signs of outrage: the bulging eyes, the purpling skin, the thin lips. He cleared his throat.
"I am not a man much given to violence," he began, calmly enough, "but I declare that if that man Doyle came before me today, I should be hard-pressed to avoid trouncing him." The image was a pleasing one, two gentlemen on the far side of middle age, one built like a bulldog and the other like a bulldong, engaging in fisticuffs. "It is difficult enough to surmount Watson's apparently endless blather in order to have my voice heard as a scientist, but now, when people hear my name, all they will think of is that disgusting dreamy-eyed little girl and her preposterous paper cutouts. I knew the man was limited, but I did not even suspect that he was insane!"
"Oh, well, Holmes," I drawled into his climbing voice. "Look on the bright side. You've complained for years how tedious it is to have everyone with a stray puppy or a stolen pencil box push through your hedges and tread on the flowers; now the British Public will assume that Sherlock Homes is as much a fairy tale as those photographs and will stop plaguing you. I'd say the man's done you a great service." I smiled brightly.
For a long minute, it was uncertain whether he was going to strike me dead for my impertinence or drop dead himself of apoplexy, but then, as I had hoped, he threw back his head and laughed long and hard.”
― Laurie R. King, quote from A Monstrous Regiment of Women
“The natural world creates great beauty every day, yet the only rules of composition it follows are those of function and chance.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Radio Silence
The Universe of Us
The Birthday of the...
Redemption
The Man Without Qual...
UtilitarianismBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
