[Boutique] Gibbs Stanford speech

Apple CEO Steve Jobs 6.12 said in a speech to graduating college students at Stanford University that dropping out of college is the most sensible choice he made in his life because it forced him to learn to innovate. . Jobs said to the full-fledged graduates, alumni and parents on the playground: "Your time is limited, so it is best not to waste it on imitating others." - Similarly, if still In the words of the school, it seems that we should not imitate the cattle people who have dropped out of school. The speech is very good, I strongly recommend everyone to look!

You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

Jobs said that you have to find what you love.

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

This is the speech of Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple and Pixar Animation Studio, at the graduation ceremony of Stanford University on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell You three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

I am honored to be with you today at the graduation ceremony. Stanford University is one of the best universities in the world. I have never graduated from college. To be honest, today may be the closest day to graduation from college in my life. Today I want to tell you three stories in my life. Not a big deal, just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

The first story is about how to connect the dots in your life.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

I dropped out after six months at Reed University, but after 18 months - before I really decided to drop out, I often went to school. Why should I drop out of school?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to Be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night Asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

The story begins when I was born. My biological mother is a young, unmarried college graduate. She decided to let others adopt me. She really wanted me to be adopted by college graduates. So when I was born, she was ready to do everything that would allow me to be adopted by a lawyer and his wife. But she did not expect that when I was born, the lawyers and couples suddenly decided that they wanted a girl. So my biological parents suddenly got a call in the middle of the night: "We have a baby boy who was accidentally born here. Do you want him?" They replied: "Of course!" But my biological mother later discovered that I The adoptive mother has never been to college, and my father has never even read high school. She refused to sign the adoption contract. Only a few months later, my parents promised that she must let me go to college, and she agreed at that time.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't See the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I was determined to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that Didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

At the age of seventeen, I really went to college. But I was stupid enough to choose a school that was almost as expensive as your Stanford University. My parents were still in the blue-collar class, and they spent almost all of their savings on my tuition. After six months, I can't see the value of it. I don't know what I want to do in my life, I don't know how the university can help me find the answer. But here, I almost spent all my parents' savings in my life. So I decided to drop out. I think this is the right decision. I can't deny that I was really scared at the time, but looking back now, it was indeed the best decision of my life. At the moment I made my decision to drop out, I finally didn't have to go to classes that I couldn't afford to pay attention to. Then I can also take courses that seem a bit interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town Every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

But this is not so romantic. I lost my dormitory, so I can only sleep on the floor of my friend's room. I went to the 5 cent cola bottle just to fill my stomach. On Sunday night, I need to walk seven miles. The city is in the Hare Krishna temple just to be able to eat – the only meal of the week. But I like it. I followed my intuition and curiosity, and many of the things I encountered were proved to be invaluable. Let me give you an example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way That science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

At the time, Reed University offered perhaps the best art class in the United States. In every poster in this university, the labels on each drawer are all beautiful art. Because I dropped out of school and didn't receive formal training, I decided to take this course and learn how to write beautiful art. I learned the san serif and serif fonts, I learned how to change the length of spaces in different letter combinations, and how to make the best print style. It is a beautiful, real art exquisite that science can never capture. I found it really wonderful.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer With I have never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I Had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on calligraphy, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very Very clear looking backwards ten years later.

At the time, it seemed that these things were in my life, and there seemed to be no practical application. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, that was not the case. I designed all the guys I studied at the time into the Mac. It was the first computer to use a beautiful printed font. If I didn't drop out of school at the time, I wouldn't have the chance to take part in this art class that I am interested in. Macs won't have so many rich fonts and pleasing font spacing. So now the personal computer will not have such a wonderful font. Of course, when I was in college, it was impossible to connect the previous ones, but when I looked back on it all ten years later, it was really clear.

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma , whatever. has approached never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Again, it's impossible to connect these pieces together as you look ahead; you can only connect them bit by bit during the review. So you have to believe that these pieces will be connected in one day in the future. You have to believe in something: your courage, purpose, life, karma. This process has never disappointed me, just to make my life more unique.

My second story is about love and loss.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, As apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. Did, our Board of Directors sided with him. What at the time of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I am very lucky, because I found what I loved very early. Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was twenty. We worked very hard. Ten years later, the company grew from the poor of the two garages to more than 4,000 employees and large companies worth more than two billion. In the ninth year of the company's founding, we just released the best product, which is the Macintosh. I am almost thirty years old. In that year, I was fired. How can you be fired by a company you created yourself? Well, when Apple grew fast, we hired a very talented guy to manage the company with me. In the first few years, the company worked very well. it is good. But then we disagreed on the future, and eventually we quarreled. When the quarrel is not open, the board is on his side. So at the age of thirty, I was fired. I was fired under the eyes of so many people. In the years of my death, all the pillars of my life are far away from me. This is a devastating blow.

I really did't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had Not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

In the first few months, I really didn't know what to do. I lost my former entrepreneurial passion. I feel that I am frustrated by the people I started with. I met David Pack and Bob Boyce and tried to apologize to them. I made things awful. But I gradually found the dawn, I still love these things I am engaged in. These things happened by Apple have not changed this at all, not at all. I was expelled, but I still love it. So I decided to start all over again.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

I didn't notice it at the time, but it turned out that being fired from Apple was the best thing that happened in my life. Because the bliss of being a winner is replaced by the relaxed feeling of being an entrepreneur: it is not so particular about anything. This made me feel so free and entered the most creative stage of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is Now a most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family Together.

In the next five years, I founded a company called NeXT, a company called Pixar, and then met an elegant woman who later became my wife. Pixar produced the world's first computer-generated animated film, "Toy Story," and Pixar is now the most successful computer production studio in the world. In a series of operations, Apple acquired NeXT, then I Back to Apple. The technology we developed at NeXT played a key role in Apple's revival. I also built a happy family with Laurence.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is true for your work as it is for your lovers. Going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it As, all looking for the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until You find it. Don't settle.

I can be very sure that if I am not expelled from Apple, one of these things will not happen. The taste of this medicine is really too bitter, but I think the patient needs this medicine. Sometimes, life will pick up a brick and slap it on your head. Don't lose confidence. I am very clear that the only thing that keeps me going is that I am very fond of what I do. You need to find what you love. This is true for work, as well as for your lover. Your work will occupy a large part of your life. You can only be content if you believe that you are doing great work. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, don't stop, and look for it wholeheartedly, you will know when you find it. Just like any sincere relationship, as the years go by, it will only get closer and closer. So keep looking until you find it, don't stop!

My third story is about death.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the Past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" For too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

When I was seventeen, I read a sentence: "If you live every day as the last day of your life, then one day you will find that you are right." This sentence left me A deep impression. Since then, after 33 years, I have asked myself in the mirror every morning: "If today is the last day of my life, will you finish what you want to do today?" When I was given "No", I knew I needed to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall Remember in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to Follow your heart.

"Remember that you are about to die" is the most important rumor I have encountered in my life. It helped me identify important choices in life. Because almost everything, including all honors, all pride, all fear of embarrassment and failure, will disappear in the face of death. What I saw was the really important thing left behind. Sometimes you think that you will lose something, "Remember that you are going to die" is the best way I know to avoid these ideas. You are already naked, you have no reason not to follow your heart and beat.

I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it obviously showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost I have a chance of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. Try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. Say your goodbyes.

About a year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. I did a check at 7:30 in the morning and checked clearly that there was a tumor in my pancreas. I didn't know what the pancreas was at the time. The doctor told me that it is probably an incurable cancer. I still have three to six months to live in this world. My doctor told me to go home, and then sorted out everything about me, that is, the doctor's program to die. That means you will finish what you said to your child in the next ten years in a few months. That means getting everything done and making your family as easy as possible; that means you have to say "Goodbye".

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. Sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I 'm fine now.

I live with the diagnosis book all day. Then one morning I made a biopsy. The doctor put an endoscope from my throat, passed my stomach, and then entered my intestines. I took a needle on the tumor on my pancreas. Several cells. I was very calm at the time because I was given a tranquilizer. But my wife was there, and later told me that when the doctors observed the cells under the microscope, they began to scream, because these cells turned out to be a very rare pancreatic cancer that can be cured by surgery. I did this operation and now I am cured.

This was the closest I've been to see death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but Purely intellectual concept:

That is when I am closest to death, and I hope that this is also the closest in the next few decades. Living again from the death line, death is only a useful but purely intellectual concept for me. I can say to you more definitely:

No one wants to die. Even one who ever wants to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old And be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

No one wants to die, even if people want to go to heaven, people will not die in order to go there. But death is the common end of each of us. No one has ever been able to escape it. It should be the same. Because death is the best invention in life. It will clear the old ones in order to give way to new ones. You are new now, but from now on, you will gradually become old and then cleared. I am sorry that this is very dramatic, but it is very real.

Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Your time is limited, so don't waste them on repeating other people's lives. Don't be bound by dogma, that means you live with the results of other people's thinking. Don't cover up your true inner voice with the opinions of others. And most importantly, you have the courage to follow your intuition and spiritual instructions—they know to some extent what you want to be, and everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with His poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it Was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

When I was young, there was a magazine called "The Whole Earth's Catalogue", which is one of the Bibles of our generation. It was written by a man named Stewart Brand in Menlo Park not far from here, and he brought the book to the world like a poem. It was in the late 1960s, before the advent of personal computers, so the book was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polarizers. A bit like google wrapped in soft leather, before Google appeared thirty-five years ago: this is idealistic, with many dexterous tools and great ideas.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final Issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stewart and his partners published several issues of "The Whole Earth Catalog", and when it completed its mission, they made the final issue of the catalog. That was in the middle of the seventies, your time. On the back cover of the last issue is a photo of the early morning country road. Under the photo, there is such a passage: "If you are hungry, you will always be hungry." This is the farewell they stopped publishing. "If you are hungry, you will always be hungry." I always hope that I can do that. Now, when you are about to graduate and start a new journey, I hope that you can do this:

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

If you want to know if you are hungry, you will always be ignorant.

Thank you all very much!

Thank you very much!