57 pages • 1 hour read
Jeffrey Zaslow, Randy PauschA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Section 1, Chapters 1-3
Section 2, Chapters 4-5
Section 2, Chapters 6-7
Section 2, Chapters 8-11
Section 3, Chapters 12-15
Section 3, Chapters 16-19
Section 3, Chapters 20-22
Section 4, Chapters 23-24
Section 4, Chapters 25-27
Section 5, Chapters 28-31
Section 5, Chapters 32-34
Section 5, Chapters 35-37
Section 5, Chapters 38-40
Section 5, Chapters 41-45
Section 5, Chapters 46-50
Section 5, Chapters 51-55
Section 5, Chapters 56-58
Section 6, Chapters 59-61
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
These chapters briefly illustrate some of Pausch’s beliefs. The first offers this advice: “Don’t complain, just work harder” (138). Pausch reflects on Sandy, a landlord he had during graduate school who became a quadriplegic. Although Sandy had a lot to complain about, he approached life in a very matter-of-fact fashion and worked to overcome the obstacles in front of him. Pausch equates Sandy’s attitude with that of baseball player Jackie Robinson, who did not turn negative or bitter despite the awful racial prejudice he faced in the big league. The lesson of this chapter is that “complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier” (139).
In Chapter 33 Pausch introduces a woman who was overwhelmed by debt. On Tuesday and Thursday nights she attended a yoga and meditation class to combat her stress. Pausch suggests it would be more practical to deal with the disease rather than the symptom: By getting a part-time job on those nights she usually went to yoga, she could use the money to pay off her debt. In other words, work to fix the real problem, and don’t find ways to mask its symptoms.