On June 6, 2005, 6 years before he “left” the world from cancer, Steve Jobs delivered one of his most iconic speeches, the lessons of which have been deeply engraved in our minds. Addressing the graduates of Stanford University, the Apple co-founder shared the lessons of wisdom he had received in his life, through 3 stories.
The main themes around which he moved were love, death and human instinct, and even today —19 years later— this 15-minute speech continues to have the same resonance.
“Trust that the dots will somehow connect in the future.”
Steve Jobs dropped out of college after 6 months of studying, after realizing he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life.
“I decided to give up and trust that everything will be alright”,
Jobs said in his speech. Instead, he explained, he started “jumping” into classes that interested him.
“A lot of what I ‘stumbled upon’ following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be invaluable later on”,
Jobs said. This included a calligraphy class that taught Jobs all about typeface and design, which would later play a role in building the “Mac” personal computer.
“If I had never dropped out of school, I would never have taken that calligraphy class, and personal computers wouldn’t have the wonderful typography that they do.”
Jobs said.
“You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future”,
Jobs said.
“You have to trust something; your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”
“Find what you love.”
When Jobs was fired from Apple at the age of 30, he was led into a creative period by founding 2 companies he fell in love with, one of which was later bought by Apple and thus he rejoined it.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.”
Jobs said.
“Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith,”
Jobs said.
“I am convinced that the only thing that kept me alive was that I loved what I did. You have to find what you love. And this applies both to your work and to your lovers.”
If you haven’t found what you love yet, Jobs said:
“Don’t compromise”.
“As in all matters of the heart, you’ll know it when you find it.”
“Death is the common destination of all of us.”
In his last story, Jobs revealed what he went through when he learned he had cancer in 2004. He was initially told the cancer was incurable and that he had only months to live. Later that day, he said, a biopsy revealed the cancer could be treated with surgery.
“I had the operation and luckily I’m fine now.”
Jobs said that as a teenager he used the motivation to “live every day as if it were your last” to help him make big choices.
“Remembering that you’re going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”
Jobs said.
“You’re already naked. There’s no reason not to follow your heart.”
“Death is the common destination of all of us”,
Jobs said.
“No one has ever escaped him. And so it should be, because death is quite possibly the best invention of life.”
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
Jobs said and added:
“Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly; have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.“
After his three stories, Jobs left Stanford’s graduating class of 2005 with the now famous “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish”.
Watch the speech here:
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