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.
Throughout my academic career, I’d given some pretty good talks. But being considered the best speaker in the computer science department is like being known as the tallest of the Seven Dwarfs. And right then, I had the feeling that I had more in me, that if I gave it my all, I might be able to offer people something special. “Wisdom” is a strong word, but maybe that was it.
Smart isn’t enough. The kind of people I want on my research team are those who will help everyone else feel happy to be here.” p118.
Each of us must decide: Am I a fun-loving Tigger or am I a sad-sack Eeyore? Pick a camp.
There is more than one way to measure profits and losses. On every level, institutions can and should have a heart.
It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand. – Randy Pausch “The Last Lecture.
That meant when I wasn’t happy about something, I spoke up, often directly and not always tactfully.
When you use money to fight poverty, it can be of great value, but too often, you’re working at the margins. When you’re putting people on the moon, you’re inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved.
Many people might expect the talk to be about dying. But it had to be about living.
I’LL TAKE an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term. Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface.
As I see it, a parent’s job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their own dreams. The best we can do is to help them develop a personal set of tools for the task. So my dreams for my kids are very exact: I want them to find their own path to fulfillment. And given that I won’t be there, I want to make this clear: Kids, don’t try to figure out what I wanted you to become. I want you to become what you want to become. Having.
I F I could only give three words of advice, they would be “tell the truth.
People lie for lots of reasons, often because it seems like a way to get what they want with less effort. But like many short-term strategies, it’s ineffective long-term. You run into people again later, and they remember you lied to them. And they tell lots of other people about it. That’s what amazes me about lying.
Go on those trips you’ve always wanted to take,” the woman advised other care-givers. “Live in the moment.
Tenacity is a virtue, but it’s not always crucial for everyone to observe how hard you work at something.
Ask those questions. Just ask them. More often than you’d suspect, the answer you’ll get is, “Sure.
I quote my father to people almost every day. Part of that is because if you dispense your own wisdom, others often dismiss it; if you offer wisdom from a third party, it seems less arrogant and more acceptable.
For Jai and me, our dented cars became a statement in our marriage. Not everything needs to be fixed.
All my life, I’ve been very aware that time is finite.
When you’re putting people on the moon, you’re inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved.