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Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
@ Stanford
03/08/08
Takeaways
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I dropped out of Reed College after six months, but stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months before I really quit.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student who decided to put me up for adoption, wanting me to be adopted by college graduates.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
My biological mother later found out that my adoptive mother had never graduated from college and my father had never graduated from high school, which led her to initially refuse to sign the adoption papers.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I decided to drop out of college and trust that it would all work out OK, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
After dropping out, I could stop taking required classes that didn't interest me and start attending classes that sparked my curiosity.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I took a calligraphy class at Reed College, which taught me about typography and later influenced the design of the first Macintosh computer.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
It was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very clear looking backwards ten years later.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
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.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I was lucky to find what I loved to do early in life when Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage at the age of 20.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
In ten years, Apple grew from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees, but then I got fired.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I was out of Apple, the focus of my entire adult life, and it was devastating; I felt I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I realized that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me, as it allowed me to start over and pursue what I loved. Being a beginner again can free you to enter a highly creative period in your life.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I started a company named NeXT and another named Pixar, and I fell in love with an amazing woman who became my wife.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Pixar created the world's first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Apple bought NeXT, and the technology we developed there is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
None of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple; it was a painful experience, but it was necessary for my growth.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Sometimes life hits you hard; don't lose faith. The only thing that kept me going was my love for what I did. You must find what you love.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Your work will fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
If you haven't found what you love yet, keep looking and don't settle. You'll know when you find it, and like any great relationship, it gets better over time.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
When I was 17, I read a quote that said, "If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." This has guided me for 33 years.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
I look in the mirror every morning and ask myself if I would want to do what I'm about to do today; if the answer is 'No' for too many days, I know I need to change something.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've encountered for making big life choices, as it helps me focus on what truly matters.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
You are already naked; there is no reason not to follow your heart.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
About a year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer, and the doctors told me I had only three to six months to live, which was a wake-up call to get my affairs in order.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Later, a biopsy revealed that I had a rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery, and thankfully, I'm fine now.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
No one wants to die, even those who want to go to heaven; death is the destination we all share, and it is Life's change agent that clears out the old to make way for the new.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma or the noise of others' opinions; have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
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Steve Jobs
03/08/08
@ Stanford
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. This was the farewell message of The Whole Earth Catalog, and I wish that for you as you graduate and begin anew.