“Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it.”
“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.”
“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.”
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. 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. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
“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.”
“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”
“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. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
“Don’t settle…”
“Stay hungry…stay foolish…”
I heard the last long quote listed on the radio today, but had missed hearing the attribution, so I didn’t know who said it. I’m glad to find out, as those words resonate for me. (I haven’t yet found my “great work” or the “work I love”…)
The world has become a far more interesting place because of Steve Jobs. Without him changing things for all of us, you and I would probably not be here right now – remembering his contributions. Thank you Steve and rest well, our Friend.
Katz
He was amazing, he invented devices easy to use but were slick looking. He resurrected the mac, he will be missed. Thanks James…great blog.
Thanks for putting this together, James! I’m a long-time Mac user, and have a great deal of respect for what Jobs was able to do for Apple.
What a great collection of quotes; I can’t help but wonder what the world what have seen if he hadn’t had to move on so young. May you rest in peace, you certainly deserve it.