I bought my first computer in 1997. It was used, a Macintosh. About 5 years old. I think I paid a few hundred bucks for it. Over the years I upgraded many times, each time buying a used Mac. Finally in 2005 or so I got my first brand new computer- the IMac. Steve Job's Think Different campaign from the mid-90's was always my favorite. I loved seeing the giant iconic billboards splashed all over LA.
I tracked down Steve Job's commencement speech he gave at Stanford. When he died this past week, I wanted to read every word of it. This is my favorite piece. I put it in my journal for safekeeping. Big thoughts from a beautiful mind…thinking different to the end.
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 away 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.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. 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.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' 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.
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.
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. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
-Steve Jobs
1955-2011
My feelings of loss when Steve Jobs died took me by surprise. After all, I never even met him. Like you, my computers over the last 20ish years have always been Macintoshes, always used. Then a year ago, I bought a NEW one….pure indulgence! I, too, sought out his commencement address and was bowled over.
thanks for this.
an eloquent tribute.
The Stanford address hit me at such a level when I first heard it years ago, I have had it close to me ever since. I admired him so because he was not afraid. Loss of a beautiful soul.
Our world has lost a true visionary. I am unbelievably sad over the death of Steve Jobs and I don’t even own a single Apple product even though I have always wanted to. Thank you for this tribute…
Thank you for the thoughtful post. Mr. Jobs will be sorely missed.
Thanks for this…some days we just need a little reminder to live our lives.
I’ve heard the speech many times and loved it. Seeing it put to pictures from Steve’s life was an added plus. Thanks so much for sharing this. This is such a loss for all of us but I feel like Steve’s legacy will live on and on. Don’t waste your time living someone else life, I just love that line. I continue to follow my heart, to do what I love, there is no other way. He will be sorely missed.
I love my Mac. RIP Steve. Gone too soon. 🙁
Such a lovely honouring post!
I linked to it. ~ http://spaciouscraft.typepad.com/truly_spacious/2011/10/your-time-is-limited.html
Thank you. xxx
Having been a Mac user for a couple of decades, I finally bought my first brand new Mac a year ago….and also signed up for the One-to-One lessons. Besides adoring all my Macs (at work I had to speak pc!) I was blown away by the store experience and all the support available to me over this year. I listened to Steve Jobs’ entire speech on NPR last week. Such a great loss for all of us!
Thank you Mary Ann for posting this, and thank you Steve Jobs for bringing such a creative energy to our lifetimes.
Thank you for posting this Mary Ann, I had not yet read it. I am saddened by his death, and since that day every time I turn on my MacBookPro I can’t help but think of him.
My father was a subscriber of the Whole Earth Catalog and we both loved it as well. May they all RIP.
I am a new convert to Mac computers…bought this laptop in Jan of this year…but I’ve had an iPod for many years…from when they first came on the market…love that little gadget. I really love this Mac too and going to the Apple store is like being plugged into the best kind of energy ever! I feel so good when I’ve had a lesson or visited the Genius Bar for help…those young people are amazing! Even tho’ I’m new to Mac computers I’ve always thought Steve Jobs was a genius…so innovative, such a visionary. The simple, sleek, minimalist esthetic to all the Apple products have such appeal…so Zen!
I was profoundly moved and saddened by this young man’s death…what a light went out of the world. I’ll miss his appearances when announcing his latest innovation of something we didn’t even know we wanted until he showed it to us. Brilliant!
This was a very timely speech/address…at the time he’d been battling pancreatic cancer for 2 years. That he kept working until just 4 weeks before his death is incredible…that could not have been easy. An amazing man…he’ll be missed by many.
Yes, and thank you dear one.
Isn’t it amazing to truly mourn and miss a soul whom you have never known? I have no good words, but I do have deep feelings.
Love.
Working in an oncology clinic I often see people facing their own mortality on a daily basis, it has been such an amazing gift, and I try to learn from it constantly. But sometimes I step away from it and become caught up in the trivial, little bits of detritus that can pile up on all of us. His words are truly so meaningful. Don’t you love words? that can create such a truth to so many. Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Stay true to yourself. What a gift. Thanks for your post.
The whole address and video is here:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505
And, to Karen in Australia; you are never JUST a stay at home mum – that is the most sacred job there can be.
…don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. AND the whole notion of not wasting your time living someone else’s life. I remember this speech when he originally gave it and those two things have stayed with me. I’m a Mac person through and through and I’ve always thought Jobs was quite remarkable. I’ll miss him.
I plan on reading this every day until it sinks in. Thanks for posting it. He really did so much in such a short time.
his speech was brilliant.
what a brilliant man… and his words. oh my his words.
thks for taking the time to post this.. I too will be saving his words and sharing them.
Just a man that made such a mark on all of us..
xo hugs to you
and now THE link…
http://allthingsd.com/20111008/rare-steve-jobs-videos/?reflink=ATD_mktw_quotes
Check out the second video on this link…and watch til the end….
It should be called….Why we Love Steve.
I loved him and still do.
Inspiration. I need to write this out for my DD as she graduates this year. It’s perfect. I just love the sentiment of all of this and it’s true.I believe that everyone is given a gift, we are all talented, some of us learn to see it in ourselves, nurture it and share it and it’s not always easy and others sadly never find it. I am so thankful that there are people in this world helping others find their gift. Steve Jobs was that kind of man. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you for sharing this Mary Ann. I’m just a stay-at-home mum in Australia and with two little ones feel like I live under a rock a great deal of the time but something in me has been so moved by this man’s death.
A truly lovely man in every sense of the word. I’ll re-read this often. Thank you.
A mind like his only comes along once in awhile. He has definitely left a huge hole that won’t be filled for a long time.