The most inspiring thing I’ve ever seen

Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University is dying of pancreatic cancer. He has 2-5 months to live.

He was asked to give a last lecture – and a packed hall experiences something profound: A man who is happy in the face of death.

As he says at the beginning:

“If I don’t seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.”

He also told people not to pity him:

“I am in phenomenally good health right now; it’s the greatest cognitive dissonance you will ever see — the fact is, I’m in better shape than most of you,” he said.

And then, to the appreciative laughs and applause of his audience, Dr. Pausch dropped to the stage floor and did a set of pushups.

“So anyone who wants to cry or pity me can come down here and do a few of those, and then you may pity me,” he said.

From this article.

The best line of the day:

“If you have any herbal supplements or remedies – stay away from me!”

Here’s a short five minute version with just a few highlights:

Click here to see the whole lecture – it’s easily the most inspiring 90 minutes I’ve ever spent.

11 thoughts on “The most inspiring thing I’ve ever seen”

  1. My favorite line (which has become my myspace headline:

    “If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.”

    Not many people in this world seem to make ‘living your life the right way’ their priority.

  2. I watched the clip, then clicked the link and watched the whole video, over an hour. Its now 2AM where I am. But I was blown away. That man is a true hero, forget celebrities, he is an inspiration and a hero.

    What a man, and thank you so much for sharing this video, it has helped me so much already – I am sure to share it and watch it again soon.

    Thanks

  3. Glad you liked it. I was totally blown away myself. And my girlfriend was crying :o)

    It’s sad, it’s beautiful but mostly it’s really, really awe-inspiring.

  4. It’s inspirational to watch someone push foreward in the face of death but its even more encouraging to see the possibility of death removed all together to where the inevitable ceases to be the outcome. Now that is something that is awesome to behold.

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