"We can't change the cards we're dealt, just how we play the hand."

The above quote is from The Last Lecture, a bestselling book by computer scientist Randy Pausch, who died Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 47 years old.

Pausch's book was based on a lecture he gave last September at Carnegie Mellon University -- where he was a professor -- shortly after he learned of his incurable illness. The video of his inspirational and defiantly humorous speech became an internet sensation, and he was featured in a "Wall Street Journal" article, and in "Time" magazine, which named him one of its 100 most influential people. In The Last Lecture, Pausch wrote about the events leading up to the speech and the influences behind it. Almost overnight, the book became a number-one national bestseller.

An obituary of Randy Pausch, along with links to audio and video of his speech, can be found here.