Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor who became well known for his ‘Last Lecture’ passed away on Friday, July 25, 2008.  His lecture about living, can be viewed below.

If you were to give a last lecture, what words of wisdom would you share?

(The lecture is 1 hour and 16 minutes in length.)

The Last Lecture book

“You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds,
except the one to which you belong.”
- David Whyte

I read the above quote last night in the July edition of Oprah magazine.  It’s hard to describe the impact it had on me, even
if it was a subtle one.  It was like a secret code being shared.

Curious, what ‘other worlds’ would you need to give up to be free?

“Love can tame the wildest.”
- Aesop

This quote is from the Aesop fable called “The Lion in Love.”  You can read it below.

A Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden and proposed marriage to her parents.  The old people did not know what to say.  hey did not like to give their daughter to the Lion, yet they did not wish to enrage the King of Beasts.  At last the father said:  We feel highly honoured by your Majesty’s proposal, but you see our daughter is a tender young thing, and we fear that in the vehemence of your affection you might possibly do her some injury.  Might I venture to suggest that your Majesty should have your claws removed, and your teeth extracted, then we would gladly consider your proposal again.”  The Lion was so much in love that he had his claws trimmed and his big teeth taken out.  But when he came again to the parents of the young girl they simply laughed in his face, and bade him do his worst.

Love can tame the wildest.

“I fear nothing and expect only good.”
- Peace Pilgrim

Imagine this…

You tell your friends you’re going to walk across the country and they think you’ve lost your mind.

You give up all your worldly possessions to fulfill your life mission.

You start your pilgrimage on January 1, 1953 at the age of 44 and end it 25,000+ miles later in 1981.

You trust that people will house and feed you along the way.

Could (or would) you do that to fulfill your mission on earth?

To hear more from the remarkable “Peace Pilgrim” watch this video from an interview in 1977 below:

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘thank you’, it will be enough.
- Meister Eckhart

Feel free to share how to say ‘thank you’ in other languages!