Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
Source: Steve Jobs - Stanford Commencement 2005 · 4,867 transcript tokens · generated in 13.35s
Steve Jobs shares three life stories about connecting the dots, love and loss, and death, emphasizing the importance of following your heart and intuition.
- 00:03:49Dropping out of college allowed him to take a calligraphy class, which later influenced the typography of the first Macintosh computer.
- 00:07:17Getting fired from Apple at age 30 was devastating but freed him to enter one of the most creative periods of his life, leading to NeXT and Pixar.
- 00:08:35The only way to do great work is to love what you do, and you must keep looking until you find it.
- 00:09:43Remembering that you will die soon is the most important tool for making big choices, as it strips away external expectations and fear.
- 00:11:24He was diagnosed with a rare but curable form of pancreatic cancer, and having lived through it, he emphasizes that death is life's change agent.
- 00:12:32Don't waste time living someone else's life; have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
- 00:14:13The Whole Earth Catalog's farewell message 'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.' has been a personal mantra and he wishes it for the graduates.
Steve Jobs delivers a powerful commencement speech at Stanford University, sharing three personal stories that shaped his life. The first story emphasizes how dropping out of college allowed him to follow his curiosity, leading to a calligraphy class that later inspired the Mac's typography. He argues that you can't connect the dots looking forward, but you must trust that they will connect in the future. The second story recounts his firing from Apple at age 30, which he initially saw as a failure but later recognized as a catalyst for his most creative period, including the founding of NeXT and Pixar. He stresses that loving what you do is essential for great work and encourages the audience to never settle. The third story confronts death, sharing his cancer diagnosis and the importance of living each day as if it were your last. He concludes with the advice to stay hungry and stay foolish, urging graduates to follow their hearts and intuition.
- 00:00:07IntroductionJobs thanks Stanford and announces he will tell three stories.
- 00:01:01First Story: Connecting the DotsHe describes dropping out of Reed College and how a calligraphy class later influenced the Mac's typography.
- 00:05:38Second Story: Love and LossHe tells of being fired from Apple and how it led to the creation of NeXT and Pixar.
- 00:09:05Third Story: DeathHe shares his cancer diagnosis and the importance of living each day as if it were your last.
- 00:14:31Closing MessageHe ends with the Whole Earth Catalog's farewell: 'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.'