Randy Pausch Quotes

There are a lot of people who came out of adverse situations and made it. Use it as motivation. Use it to drive you.

The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain - he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem--he is challenged by it. Mountains are created to be conquered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved. It is better to master one mountain than a thousand foothills.

My experience from 20 years of Africa is that the seemingly impossible is possible.

Give yourself an impossible task and solve it - then you've got a really good story.

The shell must break before the bird can fly.

If someone puts you in front of a 30m high wall, tells you to get over it, and then comes back two years later and you're still there, you've made no progress. You should find another wall.

Think of life and the world as a wall and that we're all climbing up the wall. So just put one hand in front of the other, keep your eye on the prize, and then get there. And then turn around and help the other people - because you're already there, so start helping.

Find a great role model, perhaps someone who struggled and only really succeeded when older. Their biography and what they've done differently from you will help you. If such a person is willing to mentor you or at least allow you to work around them, great.

Some of my greatest pleasures have come from finding ways to overcome obstacles.

The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future.

Really you just gotta keep chugging along and keep a positive attitude and get through all the problems. You gotta face them, otherwise you don't get through.

I like to use the hard times in the past to motivate me today.

When I was young, a lot of things were closed off to me. I was always told, 'Don't do this, you can't do that' - instead of stopping me, it made me think, 'I can do that, I must do that.'

I support anyone finding their worth despite being told they can't do something.

We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.

I know most people always thank people for believing in them - I actually want to thank people that didn't believe in me.

It feels good when guys reach out to be inspired - and you have shown people an example of how you can come back and be better than you were before when adversity strikes; and when the world predicts the opposite, you show them you not only can be successful but be great.

Well, I believe that the depth of your struggle can determine the height of your success. I was inspired to come out of everything I've been through and end up in a place where I never thought that I would be.

There were mornings when I just didn't want to get out of bed. But once again, I'm in an adverse situation and having to deal with something new and learn how to do it.

The best way out is always through.

I struggled to get through high school. I didn't get to go to college. But it made me realize you can do anything if you want to bad enough.

The only thing that I know is that, growing up, I came across stumbling blocks, and I always said to myself, 'If I ever get into a position to do something about this, I would like to, so that somebody does not deal with what I went through.'

When I graduated from Parsons School of Design, the dean at that time said I would never be a designer. Obviously I didn't listen.

Everybody has barriers to overcome, some more than others. I don't want to act like I'm all that unique. America's full of stories like mine. This is a special country with enormous opportunity for those who don't quit.

It takes facing obstacles to grow strong enough to overcome them.