In 2007 a computer science professor learned he was dying of cancer...

In 2007 a computer science professor named Randy Pausch learned he was dying of cancer. He gave what became a much loved speech. It was a best-seller. And...

Then Disney-owned publisher Hyperion paid $6.7 million for the rights to publish a book about Pausch called The Last Lecture.

I watched 10 minutes of it: Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Why would I bother listening to surely crappy speech? One reason was I scanned his Wikipedia page and I noticed this odd sentence:

On February 4, 2009, The Walt Disney Company dedicated a tribute plaque at Disney World near the "Mad Tea Party" attraction with a quote by Randy that reads "Be good at something; It makes you valuable ... Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome."

Of course - everybody reading this comment can parse that for what it really is - Some people are more valuable. Some people are more welcome. I wanted to know what was in the speech but I soon realized I didn't want to hear him talk for another second so I found it as text - not a god-awful PDF - "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" - jamesclear.com.

As text - the speech is nothing special. It included some decidedly uninspiring details about his work life. I think the speech became famous because it had the usual American exceptionalism claptrap - dream big, work hard, crave success, hard work pays off, never quit - Jackie Robinson got spit on but he didn't quit (the quote is at the very end of this post), etc. There were also Disney-worthy flourishes...

Never lose the childlike wonder.

It can be weird to read a super-popular speech because most people don't really grok the content so they don't really know what they just listened to. For most people - feeling is all. Even rabid Trump supporters wouldn't want to read a transcript of a Trump speech. Even they can't digest Trump's word salad in text form.

Pausch has a bit that's aged like milk in his covid reality if you pay attention hard enough.

No one knows this till today I'm telling the story. I was declined admission to Carnegie Mellon [for graduate school].

Here's where hard work connections pay off. A person at that school with influence offers to help him but...

I said, "No, no, no, I don't want to do it that way. That's not the way I was raised. You know, maybe some other graduate schools will see fit to admit me."

It's funny how when the "bootstrap" ethos breaks down for some people - if they have "something to bring to the table" but far more importantly they now the right people - they are more welcome. Regardless of how Pausch was raised - strings were pulled for them. He got in and they "gifted" him with a fellowship to the Office of Naval Research. Bootstraps, baby!

So, how do you get people to help you? You can't get there alone. People have to help you, and I do believe in karma, I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth, being earnest. I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term.

Oh, you just ask for help. Inspirational! He mentioned a brick wall metaphor three times. I wonder if he lived in a gated community. Disney snipped out the bit about Jackie Robinson - I guess they ran out of space on the plaque.

Have something to bring to the table. [...] Because that will make you more welcomed.

[...]

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 they brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people.

[...]

Some brick walls are made of flesh.

[...]

Andy said [to me], "No, don't go [and just get a job[. Go get a Ph.D. Become a professor." I said, "Why?" He said, "Because you're such a good salesman that any company who gets you is going to use you as a salesman, and you might as well be selling something worthwhile like education."

[...]

That is the best gift an educator can give is to get somebody to become self-reflective.

[...]

Remember, brick walls let us show our dedication. They are there to separate us from the people who don't really want to achieve their childhood dreams.

[...]

Don't complain; just work harder. That's a picture of Jackie Robinson. It was in his contract not to complain, even when the fans spit on him. Be good at something; it makes you valuable. Work hard. I got tenure a year early as Steve mentioned. Junior faculty members used to say to me, "Wow, you got tenure early. What's your secret?" I said, "It's pretty simple. Call me any Friday night in my office at 10:00 o'clock and I'll tell you."