Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

 

 

 

Life is unpredictable, and it may not always follow a linear path.
Trust that the seemingly unrelated experiences will make sense in the future.
Embrace curiosity and intuition,
as they can lead to valuable discoveries later in life.
It definitely turned out to be priceless later on. 

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.
Because believeing 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.
And that will make all the difference.

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Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.
Don't lose faith.

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 as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

Your work is 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 yet, keep looking. And don't settle.

---

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 embarrasment of failure
- these things just fall away in the face of death,
leaving only what is truly important.

Rembering 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 excaped it. 
And that is as it should be,
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 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.


Stay hungry
Stay foolish