0:07This program is brought to you by
Stanford University. 0:10Please visit us at stanford.edu 0:22Thank You. I am honored to be with you
today at your commencement 0:30from one of the finest
universities in the world. 0:35Truth be told I never
graduated from college 0:41and this is the closest I've
ever gotten to a college graduation. 0:47Today I want to tell you three
stories from my life. That's it. 0:52No big deal. Just three stories. 0:55The first story is about connecting the dots. 1:01I dropped out of Reed College
after the first 6 months, 1:03but then stayed around as a drop-in 1:05for another 18 months or so
before I really quit. 1:09So why did I drop out? 1:12It started before I was born. 1:15My biological mother was a young,
unwed graduate student, 1:19and she decided to put me up for adoption. 1:22She felt very strongly that I
should be adopted by college graduates, 1:26so everything was all set for me to 1:28be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. 1:31Except that when I popped out they decided 1:34at the last minute that they
really wanted a girl. 1:37So my parents, who were on a waiting list, 1:40got a call in the middle of the
night asking: "We have an unexpected 1:44baby boy; do you want him?" 1:47They said: "Of course."
My biological mother later found out that 1:53my mother had never graduated from college 1:55and that my father had never graduated
from high school. 1:59She refused to sign the final adoption papers. 2:03She only relented a few months later when 2:05my parents promised that I would go to college.
This was the start in my life. 2:12And 17 years later I did go to college.
But I naively chose a college 2:19that was almost as expensive as Stanford, 2:22and all of my working-class parents' 2:24savings were being spent on my college tuition. 2:27After six months,
I couldn't see the value in it. 2:30I had no idea what I wanted
to do with my life 2:32and no idea how college was going
to help me figure it out. 2:36And here I was spending all of the money
my parents had saved 2:40their entire life. 2:42So I decided to drop out and trust that it
would all work out OK. 2:46It was pretty scary at the time, 2:49but looking back it was one of the best
decisions I ever made. 2:54The minute I dropped out I could stop 2:56taking the required classes that didn't interest me, 2:59and begin dropping in on the ones that
looked interesting. 3:04It wasn't all romantic.
I didn't have a dorm room, 3:08so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, 3:10I returned coke bottles for the 5 cent
deposits to buy food with, 3:14and I would walk the 7 miles
across town every Sunday 3:17night to get one good meal
a week at the Hare Krishna 3:21temple. I loved it. 3:23And much of what I stumbled into by following 3:26my curiosity and intuition turned out
to be priceless later on. 3:29Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that 3:34time offered perhaps the best calligraphy
instruction in the country. 3:38Throughout the campus every poster,
every label on every drawer, 3:42was beautifully hand calligraphed. 3:45Because I had dropped out
and didn't have to take the normal classes, 3:49I decided to take a calligraphy class
to learn how to do this. 3:53I learned about serif
and san serif typefaces, 3:56about varying the amount of space 3:57between different letter combinations, 3:59about what makes great typography great. 4:03It was beautiful, historical, 4:05artistically subtle in a way that
science can't capture, 4:09and I found it fascinating. 4:12None of this had even a hope
of any practical application in my life. 4:17But ten years later, 4:18when we were designing
the first Macintosh computer, 4:21it all came back to me.
And we designed it all into the Mac. 4:25It was the first computer
with beautiful typography. 4:29If I had never dropped in on that
single course in college, 4:32the Mac would have never had multiple 4:34typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. 4:37And since Windows just copied the Mac, 4:39it's likely that no personal computer
would have them. 4:47If I had never dropped out, 4:51I would have never dropped in
on this calligraphy class, 4:54and personal computers might
not have the wonderful typography 4:57that they do.
Of course it was impossible to connect 5:00the dots looking forward when I was in college. 5:02But it was very,
very clear looking backwards ten years later. 5:07Again, you can't connect the dots
looking forward; 5:10you can only connect them looking backwards. 5:12So you have to trust that the dots
will somehow connect 5:15in your future. 5:16You have to trust in something, your gut,
destiny, life, karma, 5:20whatever. 5:22Beleiveing that the dots will connect down
the road will give you the confidence
to follow your heart 5:28Even when it leads you off
the well worn path,
and that will make all the difference. 5:38My second story is about love and loss. 5:44I was lucky I found what
I loved to do early in life. 5:48Woz and I started Apple
in my parents garage when I was 20. 5:51We worked hard, and in 10 years
Apple had grown from just the two of 5:55us in a garage into a $2 billion company
with over 4000 employees. 5:59We had just released our finest creation
the Macintosh 6:03a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. 6:06And then I got fired. 6:09How can you get fired from
a company you started? 6:12Well, as Apple grew we hired someone
who I thought 6:15was very talented to run the company with me, 6:18and for the first year or so things went well. 6:20But then our visions of the future began 6:22to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. 6:25When we did, our Board
of Directors sided with him. 6:29So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. 6:32What had been the focus
of my entire adult life was gone, 6:35and it was devastating. 6:38I really didn't know
what to do for a few months. 6:41I felt that I had let
the previous generation of entrepreneurs 6:43down - that I had dropped
the baton as it was being passed to me. 6:47I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce 6:50and tried to apologize for
screwing up so badly. 6:54I was a very public failure, 6:55and I even thought about running away
from the valley. 6:58But something slowly began
to dawn on me I still loved what I did. 7:03The turn of events at Apple
had not changed that one bit. 7:07I had been rejected,
but I was still in love. 7:12And so I decided to start over. 7:14I didn't see it then,
but it turned out that getting fired from 7:17Apple was the best thing
that could have ever happened to me. 7:21The heaviness of being successful was 7:23replaced by the lightness
of being a beginner again, 7:26less sure about everything. 7:27It freed me to enter one
of the most creative periods of my life. 7:31During the next five years,
I started a company named NeXT, 7:34another company named Pixar, 7:35and fell in love with an amazing woman
who would become my wife. 7:39Pixar went on to create
the worlds first computer animated feature 7:42film, Toy Story, 7:44and is now the most successful
animation studio in the world. 7:49In a remarkable turn of events,
Apple bought NeXT, 7:53I returned to Apple,
and the technology we developed at 7:56NeXT is at the heart of
Apple's current renaissance. 7:59And Laurene and I have
a wonderful family together. 8:03I'm pretty sure none of this would 8:05have happened if I hadn't
been fired from Apple. 8:08It was awful tasting medicine,
but I guess the patient needed it. 8:12Sometimes life hits you in the head
with a brick. Don't lose faith. 8:18I'm convinced that the only thing
that kept me going was that I loved 8:21what I did.
You've got to find what you love. 8:24And that is as true for your
work as it is for your lovers. 8:28Your work is going to fill
a large part of your life, 8:30and the only way to be truly satisfied 8:32is to do what you believe is great work. 8:35And the only way to do great
work is to love what you do. 8:38If you haven't found it yet,
keep looking. Don't settle. 8:43As with all matters of the heart,
you'll know when you find it. 8:47And, like any great relationship, 8:49it just gets better and better
as the years roll on. 8:52So keep looking. Don't settle. 9:05My third story is about death. 9:09When I was 17, I read a quote
that went something like: 9:12"If you live each day
as if it was your last, 9:15someday you'll most certainly be right." 9:20It made an impression on me,
and since then, for the past 33 years, 9:25I have looked in the mirror every morning 9:27and asked myself:
"If today were the last day of my life, 9:30would I want to do what
I am about to do today?" 9:34And whenever the answer has been
"No" for too many days in a row, 9:37I know I need to change something. 9:40Remembering that I'll be dead
soon is the most important 9:43tool I've ever encountered
to help me make the big choices in life. 9:47Because almost everything
all external expectations, all pride, 9:52all fear of embarrassment or failure - 9:54these things just fall away
in the face of death, 9:58leaving only what is truly important. 10:00Remembering that you are going
to die is the best 10:03way I know to avoid the trap
of thinking you have something to lose. 10:08You are already naked.
There is no reason not to follow your heart. 10:13About a year ago
I was diagnosed with cancer. 10:16I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, 10:20and it clearly showed
a tumor on my pancreas. 10:23I didn't even know what a pancreas was. 10:26The doctors told me this was almost 10:28certainly a type
of cancer that is incurable, 10:30and that I should expect to live
no longer than three to six months. 10:35My doctor advised me to go home
and get my affairs in order, 10:40which is doctor's code
for prepare to die. 10:42It means to try
to tell your kids everything you thought 10:47you'd have the next 10 years
to tell them in just a few months. 10:51It means to make sure everything
is buttoned 10:53up so that it will be as easy
as possible for your family. 10:56It means to say your goodbyes. 11:01I lived with that diagnosis all day. 11:04Later that evening I had a biopsy, 11:06where they stuck an endoscope
down my throat, 11:08through my stomach
and into my intestines, 11:11put a needle into my pancreas
and got a few cells from the tumor. 11:14I was sedated, but my wife,
who was there, 11:18told me that when they viewed
the cells under a microscope 11:21the doctors started crying
because it turned out to be 11:24a very rare form of pancreatic cancer
that is curable with surgery. 11:29I had the surgery and thankfully
I'm fine now. 11:40This was the closest
I've been to facing death, 11:43and I hope its the closest
I get for a few more decades. 11:46Having lived through it, 11:48I can now say this to you with
a bit more certainty than when 11:51death was a useful
but purely intellectual concept: 11:55No one wants to die. 11:58Even people who want to go to heaven
don't want to die to get there. 12:02And yet death
is the destination we all share. 12:06No one has ever escaped it.
And that is as it should be, 12:10because Death is very likely
the single best invention of Life. 12:15It is Life's change agent. 12:16It clears out the old
to make way for the new. 12:19Right now the new is you,
but someday not too long from now, 12:24you will gradually become
the old and be cleared away. 12:28Sorry to be so dramatic,
but it is quite true. 12:32Your time is limited, so don't
waste it living someone else's life. 12:38Don't be trapped by dogma which is living 12:40with the results
of other people's thinking. 12:42Don't let the noise of others'
opinions drown out your own inner 12:46voice. And most important, 12:48have the courage to follow your
heart and intuition. 12:51They somehow already know what
you truly want to become. 12:55Everything else is secondary. 13:09When I was young, 13:11there was an amazing publication
called The Whole Earth Catalog, 13:15which was one of the bibles
of my generation. 13:18It was created by a fellow named
Stewart Brand not far from here 13:21in Menlo Park, and he brought
it to life with his poetic touch. 13:25This was in the late 1960's, 13:27before personal computers
and desktop publishing, 13:30so it was all made with typewriters,
scissors, and polaroid cameras. 13:34It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 13:3635 years before Google came along:
it was idealistic, 13:41overflowing with neat tools,
and great notions. 13:45Stewart and his team put out several 13:47issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, 13:48and then when it had run its course,
they put out a final issue. 13:53It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. 13:58On the back cover of their final issue 14:00was a photograph of
an early morning country road, 14:04the kind you might find yourself 14:05hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. 14:08Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry.
Stay Foolish." 14:13It was their farewell message
as they signed off. Stay Hungry. 14:18Stay Foolish.
And I have always wished that for myself. 14:23And now, as you graduate to begin anew,
I wish that for you. 14:28Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 14:31Thank you all very much.