"Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I've always believed that if you took one tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out.""

"Its important to have specific dreams. Dream Big. Dream without fear.""

"A good apology is like antibiotic, a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound.""

"People are more important than things.""

"You can always change your plan, but only if you have one..""

"The questions are always more important than the answers.""

"If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, "tell the truth." If I got three more words, I'd add: "All the time.""

"I've always admired people who are over-prepared. In college, I had a classmate named Norman Meyrowitz. One day he was giving a presentation on an overhead projector" and the bulb subsequently went out. The class thought the presentation was over. "It's okay," Norm announced . . . and he went to his backpack and grabbed an extra bulb he brought with him."

"As stated in the book, the First Penguin award went to students who went out on a limb and failed! This came "from the notion that when penguins are about to jump into water that might contain predators, well, somebody's got to be the first penguin." So, even if there are failures, it brings experience. Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer."

"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."

"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."

"Coach Graham use to ride me hard . . . "you're doing it all wrong! Go back! Do it again!" An assistant coach muttered that it was a good thing Coach Graham rode me hard, because "when you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you.""

"General Advice: Never break a promise, but re-negotiate them if need be. If you haven’t got time to do it right, you don’t have time to do it wrong. Recognize that most things are pass/fail. Feedback loops: ask in confidence."

"Eat and sleep and exercise. Above all else!"

"Turn money into time – especially important for people with kids."

"Delegation: No one is an island. You can accomplish a lot more with help."

"Avoiding Procrastination: Doing things at the last minute is much more expensive than just before the last minute. Deadlines are really important: establish them yourself!"

"Everyone has Good and Bad Times. Find your creative/thinking time. Defend it ruthlessly, spend it alone, maybe at home. Find your dead time. Schedule meetings, phone calls, and mundane stuff during it."

"Everything you do is an opportunity cost. Learn to say “No”"

"You don’t find time for important things, you make it."

"Make your office comfortable for you, and optionally comfortable for others."

"Clutter is death; it leads to thrashing. Keep desk clear: focus on one thing at a time."

"Failing to plan is planning to fail. Plan Each Day, Each Week, Each Semester. You can always change your plan, but only once you have one!"

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."

"Being successful doesn’t make you manage your time well. Managing your time well makes you successful!"

"Did you figure out the second head fake? This talk's not for you. It's for my kids."

"Did you figure out the head fake? It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you."

"And be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity."

"Find the best in everybody. … you might have to wait a long time, sometimes years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out."

"Work hard."

"Junior faculty members used to come up to me and say. "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 o'clock and I'll tell you.""

"Be good at something. It makes you valuable."

"Don't complain; just work harder."

"Show gratitude."

"Get a feedback loop and listen to it. … When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it."

"When you do the right thing, good stuff has a way of happening."

"Don't bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap."

"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."

"Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself."

"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; by being earnest. I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short-term, earnest is long term."

"Never give up."

"It took me a long time but I finally figured it out: when it comes to men that are romantically interested in you, it's really simple: just ignore everything they say, and only pay attention to what they do. It's that simple. It's that easy."

"We keep what is valuable to us, what we cherish."

"Help others."

"Never lose the child-like wonder. It's just too important. It's what drives us."

"You just have to decide whether you are Tigger or an Eeyore. You have to be clear where you stand on the Tigger/Eeyore debate."

"I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there's no other way to play."

"And he put his arm around my shoulders and we went for a little walk and he said, Randy, it’s such a shame that people perceive you as so arrogant. Because it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish in life. What a hell of a way to word “you’re being a jerk.” [laughter] Right? He doesn’t say you’re a jerk. He says people are perceiving you this way and he says the downside is it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish."

"My dad was so full of life, anything with him was an adventure. [Shows picture of his Dad holding a brown paper bag] I don’t know what’s in that bag, but I know it’s cool. My dad dressed up as Santa Claus, but he also did very, very significant things to help lots of people. This is a dormitory in Thailand that my mom and dad underwrote. And every year about 30 students get to go to school who wouldn’t have otherwise. This is something my wife and I have also been involved in heavily. And these are the kind of things that I think everybody ought to be doing. Helping others."