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Steve Jobs 2005 stanford univ speach |
[00:01]Steve Jobs'2005 Stanford
[00:24]I am
[00:29] honored to be with you today
[00:30]at your commencement from one
[00:31]of the finest universities
[00:33]in the world.
[00:36]To speech all
[00:38]I never graduated
[00:40]from college.
[00:41]And ,
[00:43]this is the closest
[00:44] I've ever gotten
[00:45]to a college graduation.
[00:48]Today I want to tell you
[00:50]three stories from my life.
[00:51]That's it.
[00:52]No big deal.
[00:54]Just three stories.
[00:56]The first story is
[00:58]about connecting the dots.
[01:01]I dropped out of Reed College
[01:03]after the first 6 months,
[01:04]but then stayed around as a
[01:05]drop-in for another 18 months
[01:07]or so before I really quit.
[01:10]So why did I drop out?
[01:12]It started before I was born.
[01:13]My biological mother
[01:16]was a young,
[01:18]unwed college graduate
[01:19]student,
[01:20]and she decided to put me up
[01:21]for adoption.
[01:22]She felt very strongly that
[01:24]I should be adopted
[01:25] by college graduates,
[01:26]so everything was all set
[01:28]for me to be adopted at birth
[01:29]by a lawyer and his wife.
[01:32]Except that when I popped
[01:34]out they decided at the last
[01:35]minute that they really
[01:36]wanted a girl.
[01:38]So my parents,
[01:39]who were on a waiting list,
[01:40]got a call in the middle of
[01:42]the night asking:
[01:44]"We have an unexpected
[01:48] baby boy; do you want him?"
[01:51] They said:"Of course."
[01:53] My biological mother later
[01:54]found out that my mother had
[01:55]never graduated from college
[01:56]and that my father had never
[01:57]graduated from high school.
[01:59]She refused to sign the
[02:01]final adoption papers.
[02:04]She only relented
[02:05] a few months later
[02:06] when my parents promised
[02:07] that I would someday go
[02:09] to college.
[02:10]And 17 years later
[02:11] almost as to college.
[02:17] But I naively chose a
[02:19] college that was
[02:20] almost as expensivex
[02:22] almost as Stanford,
[02:23] and all of my working-class
[02:24]parents' savings were being
[02:25]spent on my college tuition.
[02:27]After six months,
[02:28]I couldn't see
[02:30] the value in it.
[02:31]I had no idea what I wanted
[02:32]to do with my life and no
[02:34]idea how college was going to
[02:35]help me figure it out.
[02:36]And here I was spending all
[02:37]of the money my parents had
[02:40]saved their entire life.
[02:43]So I decided to drop out and
[02:44]trust that it would
[02:46] all work out OK.
[02:48]It was pretty scary
[02:49] at the time,
[02:50]but looking back it was one
[02:51]of the best decisions
[02:52] I ever made.
[02:54]The minute I dropped out I
[02:55]could stop taking the
[02:57]required classes that didn't
[02:58]interest me,
[03:00]and begin dropping in on the
[03:01]ones that looked interesting.
[03:03]It wasn't all romantic.
[03:05]I didn't have a dorm room,
[03:08]so I slept on the floor in
[03:09]friends' rooms,
[03:11]I returned coke bottles for
[03:12]the 5￠ deposits
[03:13] to buy food with,
[03:15]and I would walk the 7 miles
[03:16]across town
[03:17] every Sunday night
[03:18] to get one
[03:19] good meal a week
[03:21] at the Hare Krishna temple.
[03:22]I loved it.
[03:24]And much of what I stumbled
[03:25]into by following my
[03:27]curiosity and intuition
[03:28]turned out to be priceless
[03:29]later on.
[03:31]Let me give you one example:
[03:32]Reed College at that time
[03:35]offered perhaps the best
[03:36]calligraphy instruction in
[03:37]the country.
[03:39]Throughout the campus every
[03:40]poster,
[03:41]every label on every drawer,
[03:43]was beautifully hand
[03:44]calligraphed.
[03:45]Because I had dropped out
[03:46]and didn't have to take the
[03:48]normal classes,
[03:50]I decided to take a
[03:51]calligraphy class to learn
[03:52]how to do this.
[03:53]I learned about serif and
[03:54]san serif typefaces,
[03:56]about varying the amount of
[03:57]space between different
[03:59]letter combinations,
[04:00]about what makes great
[04:01]typography great.
[04:03]It was beautiful,
[04:05]historical,
[04:06]artistically subtle
[04:07] in a way that science
[04:08] can't capture,
[04:09]and I found it fascinating.
[04:10]None of this had even a hope
[04:13]of any practical application
[04:14]in my life.
[04:15]But ten years later,
[04:18]when we were designing the
[04:19]first Macintosh computer,
[04:21]it all came back to me.
[04:23]And we designed it all
[04:25] into the Mac.
[04:26]It was the first computer
[04:27]with beautiful typography.
[04:29]If I had never dropped in on
[04:30]that single course in college,
[04:33]the Mac would have never had
[04:34]multiple typefaces or
[04:36]proportionally spaced fonts.
[04:37]And since Windows
[04:38] just copied the Mac,
[04:40]it's likely that no personal
[04:41]computer would have them.
[04:50]If I had never dropped out,
[04:52]I would have never dropped
[04:53]in on this calligraphy class,
[04:54]and personal computers might
[04:55]not have the wonderful
[04:57]typography that they do.
[04:58]Of course it was impossible
[05:00]to connect the dots looking
[05:01]forward when I was in college.
[05:03]But it was very,
[05:04]very clear looking backwards
[05:06]ten years later.
[05:07] Again, you can't connect
[05:08] the dots looking forward;
[05:09] you can only
[05:11]connect them looking
[05:13]backwards.
[05:14]So you have to trust that
[05:15]the dots will somehow connect
[05:16]in your future.
[05:17]You have to trust in
[05:18]something ?
[05:19] your gut, destiny, life,
[05:22] karma, whatever.
[05:23]This approach has never let
[05:24]me down,
[05:25]and it has made all the
[05:26]difference in my life.
[05:39]My second story
[05:40] is about love and loss.
[05:41]I was lucky ? I found what I
[05:44]loved to do early in life.
[05:46]Woz and I started Apple in
[05:49]my parents garage
[05:51] when I was 20.
[05:52]We worked hard,
[05:53]and in 10 years Apple had
[05:54]grown from just the two of us
[05:55]in a garage into a $2 billion
[05:57]company with over 4000
[06:00]employees.
[06:01]We had just released our
[06:02]finest creation ? the
[06:03]Macintosh ? a year earlier,
[06:04]and I had just turned 30.
[06:05]And then I got fired.
[06:07]How can you get fired from a
[06:09]company you started?
[06:12] Well, as Apple grew we hired
[06:14]someone who I thought
[06:15]was very talented
[06:17] to run the company with me,
[06:19]and for the first year or so
[06:20]things went well.
[06:21]But then our visions of the
[06:22]future began to diverge
[06:23] and eventually
[06:24] we had a falling out.
[06:25]When we did,
[06:26]our Board of Directors sided
[06:28]with him.
[06:29]So at 30 I was out.
[06:30]And very publicly out.
[06:31]What had been the focus of
[06:34]my entire adult life was gone,
[06:35]and it was devastating.
[06:37]I really didn't know what to
[06:39]do for a few months.
[06:41]I felt that I had let the
[06:42]previous generation of
[06:43]entrepreneurs down - that I
[06:45]had dropped the baton as it
[06:46]was being passed to me.
[06:47]I met with David Packard
[06:50] and Bob Noyce
[06:51] and tried to apologize
[06:52] for screwing up so badly.
[06:53]I was a very public failure,
[06:54]and I even thought about
[06:56]running away from the valley.
[06:57]But something slowly began
[06:59]to dawn on me ? I still loved
[07:03]what I did.
[07:05]The turn of events at Apple
[07:06]had not changed that one bit.
[07:08]I had been rejected,
[07:09]but I was still in love.
[07:11]And so I decided to start
[07:12]over.
[07:14]I didn't see it then,
[07:15]but it turned out that
[07:17]getting fired from Apple was
[07:18]the best thing that could
[07:20]have ever happened to me.
[07:21]The heaviness of being
[07:22]successful was replaced by
[07:23]the lightness of being a
[07:25]beginner again,
[07:26]less sure about everything.
[07:28]It freed me to enter one of
[07:29]the most creative periods of
[07:30]my life.
[07:31]During the next five years,
[07:32]I started a company named
[07:33]NeXT,
[07:34]another company named Pixar,
[07:35]and fell in love with an
[07:37]amazing woman who would
[07:38]become my wife.
[07:40]Pixar went on to create the
[07:41]worlds first computer
[07:42]animated feature film,
[07:43]Toy Story,
[07:44]and is now the most
[07:45]successful animation studio
[07:46]in the world.
[07:50]In a remarkable turn of
[07:51]events,
[07:52]Apple bought NeXT,
[07:54]I returned to Apple,
[07:55]and the technology we
[07:56]developed at NeXT is at the
[07:57]heart of Apple's current
[07:58]renaissance.
[08:00]And Laurene
[08:01] and I have
[08:02] a wonderful family together.
[08:03]I'm pretty sure none of this
[08:04]would have happened if I
[08:06]hadn't been fired from Apple.
[08:08]It was awful tasting
[08:09]medicine,
[08:10]but I guess the patient
[08:11]needed it.
[08:12]Sometimes life hits you in
[08:13]the head with a brick.
[08:14]Don't lose faith.
[08:18]I'm convinced that the only
[08:19]thing that kept me going was
[08:20]that I loved what I did.
[08:22]You've got to find what you
[08:23]love.
[08:25]And that is as true for your
[08:26]work as it is for your lovers.
[08:28]Your work is going to fill a
[08:29]large part of your life,
[08:30]and the only way to be truly
[08:32]satisfied is to do what you
[08:34]believe is great work.
[08:35]And the only way to do great
[08:36]work is to love what you do.
[08:38]If you haven't found it yet,
[08:40]keep looking.
[08:41]Don't settle.
[08:42]As with all matters of the
[08:44]heart,
[08:45]you'll know when you find it.
[08:46]And,
[08:47]like any great relationship,
[08:48]it just gets better and
[08:50]better as the years roll on.
[08:51]So keep looking until you
[08:52]find it.
[08:54]Don't settle.
[09:05]My third story is about death.
[09:09]When I was 17,
[09:10]I read a quote that went
[09:12]something like:
[09:13]"If you live each day
[09:15] as if it was your last,
[09:16]someday you'll most
[09:21]certainly be right.
[09:26]" It made an impression on me,
[09:28]and since then,
[09:30]for the past 33 years,
[09:33]I have looked in the mirror
[09:34]every morning and asked
[09:35]myself:
[09:36]"If today were the last day
[09:37]of my life,
[09:38]would I want to do
[09:39] what I am about to do today?"
[09:40] And whenever
[09:41]the answer has been
[09:42]"No" for too many days
[09:43] in a row,
[09:44]I know I need to change
[09:45]something.
[09:46]Remembering
[09:47]that I'll be dead soon
[09:48]is the most important
[09:49]tool I've ever encountered to
[09:50]help me make the big choices
[09:51]in life.
[09:52]Because almost everything ?
[09:53]all external expectations,
[09:54]all pride,
[09:55]all fear of embarrassment or
[09:56]failure -
[09:57] these things just fall away
[09:58] in the face of death,
[09:59]leaving only what is truly
[10:00]important.
[10:01]Remembering that you are
[10:02]going to die is the best way
[10:03]I know to avoid the trap of
[10:05]thinking you have something
[10:06]to lose.
[10:08]You are already naked.
[10:09]There is no reason not to
[10:10]follow your heart.
[10:12]About a year ago I was
[10:14]diagnosed with cancer.
[10:16]I had a scan at 7:
[10:18]30 in the morning,
[10:20]and it clearly showed a
[10:21]tumor on my pancreas.
[10:23]I didn't even know what a
[10:24]pancreas was.
[10:26]The doctors told me this was
[10:27]almost certainly a type of
[10:29]cancer that is incurable,
[10:30]and that I should expect to
[10:32]live no longer than three to
[10:33]six months.
[10:35]My doctor advised me to go
[10:37]home and get my affairs in
[10:38]order,
[10:40]which is doctor's code for
[10:41]prepare to die.
[10:43]It means to try to tell your
[10:44]kids everything you thought
[10:45]you'd have the next 10 years
[10:48]to tell them
[10:50] in just a few months.
[10:52]It means to make sure
[10:53]everything is buttoned up so
[10:56]that it will be as easy as
[10:57]possible for your family.
[10:58]It means
[10:59] to say your goodbyes.
[11:01]I lived with that diagnosis
[11:02]all day.
[11:04]Later that evening I had a
[11:05]biopsy,
[11:06]where they stuck an
[11:07]endoscope down my throat,
[11:09]through my stomach and into
[11:10]my intestines,
[11:11]put a needle into my
[11:12]pancreas and got a few cells
[11:13]from the tumor.
[11:15]I was sedated,
[11:16]but my wife,
[11:17]who was there,
[11:18]told me that when they
[11:19]viewed the cells under a
[11:21]microscope the doctors
[11:22]started crying because it
[11:23]turned out to be a very rare
[11:24]form of pancreatic cancer
[11:26]that is curable with surgery.
[11:28]I had the surgery and I'm
[11:30]fine now.
[11:40]This was the closest I've
[11:41]been to facing death,
[11:43]and I hope it's the closest
[11:44]I get for a few more decades.
[11:45]Having lived through it,
[11:47]I can now say this to you
[11:49]with a bit more certainty
[11:50]than when death was a useful
[11:52]but purely intellectual
[11:53]concept:
[11:55]No one wants to die.
[11:58]Even people who want to go
[11:59]to heaven don't want to die
[12:01]to get there.
[12:03]And yet death is the
[12:04]destination we all share.
[12:06]No one has ever escaped it.
[12:08]And that is as it should be,
[12:10]because Death is very likely
[12:12]the single best invention of
[12:13]Life.
[12:15]It is Life's change agent.
[12:16]It clears out the old
[12:18] to make way for the new.
[12:20]Right now the new is you,
[12:21]but someday not too long
[12:22]from now,
[12:24]you will gradually become
[12:25]the old and be cleared away.
[12:26]Sorry to be so dramatic,
[12:29]but it is quite true.
[12:31]Your time is limited,
[12:33]so don't waste it living
[12:35]someone else's life.
[12:36]Don't be trapped by dogma ?
[12:39]which is living with the
[12:40]results of other people's
[12:41]thinking.
[12:43]Don't let the noise of
[12:44]others' opinions drown out
[12:45]your own inner voice.
[12:47]And most important,
[12:48]have the courage to follow
[12:49]your heart and intuition.
[12:50]They somehow already know
[12:52]what you truly want to become.
[12:53]Everything else is secondary.
[13:11]When I was young,
[13:12]there was an amazing
[13:13]publication called The Whole
[13:14]Earth Catalog,
[13:15]which was one of the bibles
[13:16]of my generation.
[13:18]It was created by a fellow
[13:19]named Stewart Brand not far
[13:20]from here in Menlo Park,
[13:22]and he brought it to life
[13:23]with his poetic touch.
[13:26]This was in the late 1960's,
[13:27]before personal computers
[13:28]and desktop publishing,
[13:30]so it was all made with
[13:31]typewriters, scissors,
[13:33]and polaroid cameras.
[13:34]It was sort of like Google
[13:35]in paperback form,
[13:36]35 years
[13:38] before Google came along:
[13:40]it was idealistic,
[13:41]and overflowing with neat
[13:42]tools and great notions.
[13:43]Stewart and his team put out
[13:46]several issues of The Whole
[13:47]Earth Catalog,
[13:49]and then when it had run
[13:50] its course,
[13:51]they put out a final issue.
[13:53]It was the mid-1970s,
[13:54]and I was your age.
[13:56]On the back cover
[13:58]of their final
[13:59]issue was a photograph
[14:01]of an early morning country
[14:03]road,
[14:04]the kind you might find
[14:05]yourself hitchhiking on if
[14:06]you were so adventurous.
[14:08]Beneath it were the words:
[14:10]"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
[14:13]It was their farewell
[14:14]message as they signed off.
[14:16]Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
[14:19]And I have always wished
[14:21]that for myself.
[14:23]And now, as you graduate
[14:24]to begin anew,
[14:27]I wish that for you.
[14:28]Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
[14:31]Thank you all very much. |
