Steve Jobs2005年在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲[5篇模版]

第一篇：Steve Jobs2005年在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of thefinest universities in the world.I never graduated from college.Truth be told,this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.That's it.No big deal.Just three stories.The first story is about connecting the dots.I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayedaround as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.So whydid I drop out?It started before I was born.My biological mother was a young, unwedcollege graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.She feltvery strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everythingwas all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.Exceptthat when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they reallywanted a girl.So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in themiddle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy;do you wanthim?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that mymother had never graduated from college and that my father had nevergraduated from high school.She refused to sign the final adoption papers.She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that Iwould someday go to college.And 17 years later I did go to college.But I naively chose a college that wasalmost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents'savings were being spent on my college tuition.After six months, I couldn'tsee the value in it.I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and noidea how college was going to help me figure it out.And here I wasspending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.So Idecided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.It was prettyscary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I evermade.The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes thatdidn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.It wasn't all romantic.I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor infriends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with,and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get onegood meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.I loved it.And much of whatI stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to bepriceless later on.Let me give you one example:Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction inthe country.Throughout the campus every poster, every label on everydrawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.Because I had dropped out anddidn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class tolearn how to do this.I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, aboutvarying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.It was beautiful, historical, artisticallysubtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.But tenyears later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it allcame back to me.And we designed it all into the Mac.It was the firstcomputer with beautiful typography.If I had never dropped in on that singlecourse in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces orproportionally spaced fonts.And since Windows just copied the Mac, itslikely that no personal computer would have them.If I had never droppedout, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personalcomputers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.Of courseit was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward;you can only connectthem looking backwards.So you have to trust that the dots will somehowconnect in your future.You have to trust in somethingthe Macintoshthat I had dropped the baton asit was being passed to me.I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce andtried to apologize for screwing up so badly.I was a very public failure, and Ieven thought about running away from the valley.But something slowlybegan to dawn on me – I still loved what I did.The turn of events at Applehad not changed that one bit.I had been rejected, but I was still in love.Andso I decided to start over.I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was thebest thing that could have ever happened to me.The heaviness of beingsuccessful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sureabout everything.It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of mylife.During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, anothercompany named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who wouldbecome my wife.Pixar went on to create theworlds first computer animatedfeature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio inthe world.In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned toApple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple'scurrent renaissance.And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired fromApple.It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.Don't lose faith.I'mconvinced 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 isfor your lovers.Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and theonly way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.Andthe only way to do great work is to love what you do.If you haven't found ityet, keep looking.Don't settle.As with all matters of the heart, you'll knowwhen you find it.And, like any great relationship, it just gets better andbetter as the years roll on.So keep looking until you find it.Don't settle.My third story is about death.When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live eachday as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.” It made animpression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in themirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of mylife, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever theanswer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to changesomething.Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've everencountered to help me make the big choices in life.Because almosteverything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment orfailurewhich is living with the results of other people'sthinking.Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own innervoice.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.When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The WholeEarth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.It was createdby a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and hebrought it to life with his poetic touch.This was in the late 1960's, beforepersonal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made withtypewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.It was sort of like Google inpaperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, andoverflowing with neat tools and great notions.Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, andthen when it had run its course, they put out a final issue.It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.On the back cover of their final issue was aphotograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might findyourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.Beneath it were thewords: “Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as theysigned off.Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.And I have always wished that for myself.And now, as you graduate to begin a new, I wish that for you.Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.Thank you all very much.Steve Jobs

第二篇：乔布斯在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲

乔布斯(Steve Jobs)在斯坦福大学2005年毕业典礼上的演讲

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.I never graduated from college.Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.That's it.No big deal.Just three stories.The first story is about connecting the dots.I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born.My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy;do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.She refused to sign the final adoption papers.She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.And 17 years later I did go to college.But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition.After six months, I couldn't see the value in it.I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.It wasn't all romantic.I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.I loved it.And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this.I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me.And we designed it all into the Mac.It was the first computer with beautiful typography.If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them.If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.Again, 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.My second story is about love and loss.I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life.Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20.We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees.We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30.And then I got fired.How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well.But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him.So at 30 I was out.And very publicly out.What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.I really didn't know what to do for a few months.I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs downthese 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 o

f thinking you have something to lose.You are already naked.There is no reason not to follow your heart.About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.I didn't even know what a pancreas was.The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.It means to say your goodbyes.I lived with that diagnosis all day.Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.I had the surgery and I'm fine now.This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades.Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

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 escaped it.And that is as it should be, because 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 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.When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and pol

aroid cameras.It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue.It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off.Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.And I have always wished that for myself.And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.Thank you all very much

第三篇：奥普拉在斯坦福大学2008毕业典礼上的演讲

奥普拉在斯坦福大学2008毕业典礼上的演讲[中英文对照]

Thank you, President Hennessy, and to the trustees and the faculty, to all of the parents and grandparents, to you, the Stanford graduates.Thank you for letting me share this amazing day with you.I need to begin by letting everyone in on a little secret.The secret is that Kirby Bumpus, Stanford Class of '08, is my goddaughter.So, I was thrilled when President Hennessy asked me to be your Commencement speaker, because this is the first time I've been allowed on campus since Kirby's been here.You see, Kirby's a very smart girl.She wants people to get to know her on her own terms, she says.Not in terms of who she knows.So, she never wants anyone who's first meeting her to know that I know her and she knows me.So, when she first came to Stanford for new student orientation with her mom, I hear that they arrived and everybody was so welcoming, and somebody came up to Kirby and they said, “Ohmigod, that's Gayle King!” Because a lot of people know Gayle King as my BFF [best friend forever].And so somebody comes up to Kirby, and they say, “Ohmigod, is that Gayle King?” And Kirby's like, “Uh-huh.She's my mom.”

And so the person says, “Ohmigod, does it mean, like, you know Oprah Winfrey?”

And Kirby says, “Sort of.”

I said, “Sort of? You sort of know me?” Well, I have photographic proof.I have pictures which I can e-mail to you all of Kirby riding horsey with me on all fours.So, I more than sort-of know Kirby Bumpus.And I'm so happy to be here, just happy that I finally, after four years, get to see her room.There's really nowhere else I'd rather be, because I'm so proud of Kirby, who graduates today with two degrees, one in human bio and the other in psychology.Love you, Kirby Cakes!That's how well I know her.I can call her Cakes.And so proud of her mother and father, who helped her get through this time, and her brother, Will.I really had nothing to do with her graduating from Stanford, but every time anybody's asked me in the past couple of weeks what I was doing, I would say, “I'm getting ready to go to Stanford.”

I just love saying “Stanford.” Because the truth is, I know I would have never gotten my degree at all, 'cause I didn't go to Stanford.I went to Tennessee State University.But I never would have gotten my diploma at all, because I was supposed to graduate back in 1975, but I was short one credit.And I figured, I'm just going to forget it, 'cause, you know, I'm not going to march with my class.Because by that point, I was already on television.I'd been in television since I was 19 and a sophomore.Granted, I was the only television anchor person that had an 11 o'clock curfew doing the 10 o'clock news.Seriously, my dad was like, “Well, that news is over at 10:30.Be home by 11.”

But that didn't matter to me, because I was earning a living.I was on my way.So, I thought, I'm going to let this college thing go and I only had one credit short.But, my father, from that time on and for years after, was always on my case, because I did not graduate.He'd say, “Oprah Gail”—that's my middle name—“I don't know what you're gonna do without that degree.” And I'd say, “But, Dad, I have my own television show.”

And he'd say, “Well, I still don't know what you're going to do without that degree.”

And I'd say, “But, Dad, now I'm a talk show host.” He'd say, “I don't know how you're going to get another job without that degree.”

So, in 1987, Tennessee State University invited me back to speak at their commencement.By then, I had my own show, was nationally syndicated.I'd made a movie, had been nominated for an Oscar and founded my company, Harpo.But I told them, I cannot come and give a speech unless I can earn one more credit, because my dad's still saying I'm not going to get anywhere without that degree.So, I finished my coursework, I turned in my final paper and I got the degree.And my dad was very proud.And I know that, if anything happens, that one credit will be my salvation.But I also know why my dad was insisting on that diploma, because, as B.B.King put it, “The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take that away from you.” And learning is really in the broadest sense what I want to talk about today, because your education, of course, isn't ending here.In many ways, it's only just begun.The world has so many lessons to teach you.I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school and our life the classrooms.And sometimes here in this Planet Earth school the lessons often come dressed up as detours or roadblocks.And sometimes as full-blown crises.And the secret I've learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons, lessons from the grandest university of all, that is, the universe itself.It's being able to walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is going to best help you evolve, 'cause that's really why we're here, to evolve as human beings.To grow into more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion and growth.I think about one of the greatest compliments I've ever received: I interviewed with a reporter when I was first starting out in Chicago.And then many years later, I saw the same reporter.And she said to me, “You know what? You really haven't changed.You've just become more of yourself.”

And that is really what we're all trying to do, become more of ourselves.And I believe that there's a lesson in almost everything that you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward.It's how you enrich your spirit.And, trust me, I know that inner wisdom is more precious than wealth.The more you spend it, the more you gain.So, today, I just want to share a few lessons—meaning three—that I've learned in my journey so far.And aren't you glad? Don't you hate it when somebody says, “I'm going to share a few,” and it's 10 lessons later? And, you're like, “Listen, this is my graduation.This is not about you.” So, it's only going to be three.The three lessons that have had the greatest impact on my life have to do with feelings, with failure and with finding happiness.A year after I left college, I was given the opportunity to co-anchor the 6 o'clock news in Baltimore, because the whole goal in the media at the time I was coming up was you try to move to larger markets.And Baltimore was a much larger market than Nashville.So, getting the 6 o'clock news co-anchor job at 22 was such a big deal.It felt like the biggest deal in the world at the time.And I was so proud, because I was finally going to have my chance to be like Barbara Walters, which is who I had been trying to emulate since the start of my TV career.So, I was 22 years old, making $22,000 a year.And it's where I met my best friend, Gayle, who was an intern at the same TV station.And once we became friends, we'd say, “Ohmigod, I can't believe it!You're making $22,000 and you're only 22.Imagine when you're 40 and you're making $40,000!”

When I turned 40, I was so glad that didn't happen.So, here I am, 22, making $22,000 a year and, yet, it didn't feel right.It didn't feel right.The first sign, as President Hennessy was saying, was when they tried to change my name.The news director said to me at the time, “Nobody's going to remember Oprah.So, we want to change your name.We've come up with a name we think that people will remember and people will like.It's a friendly name: Suzie.”

Hi, Suzie.Very friendly.You can't be angry with Suzie.Remember Suzie.But my name wasn't Suzie.And, you know, I'd grown up not really loving my name, because when you're looking for your little name on the lunch boxes and the license plate tags, you're never going to find Oprah.So, I grew up not loving the name, but once I was asked to change it, I thought, well, it is my name and do I look like a Suzie to you? So, I thought, no, it doesn't feel right.I'm not going to change my name.And if people remember it or not, that's OK.And then they said they didn't like the way I looked.This was in 1976, when your boss could call you in and say, “I don't like the way you look.” Now that would be called a lawsuit, but back then they could just say, “I don't like the way you look.” Which, in case some of you in the back, if you can't tell, is nothing like Barbara Walters.So, they sent me to a salon where they gave me a perm, and after a few days all my hair fell out and I had to shave my head.And then they really didn't like the way I looked.Because now I am black and bald and sitting on TV.Not a pretty picture.But even worse than being bald, I really hated, hated, hated being sent to report on other people's tragedies as a part of my daily duty, knowing that I was just expected to observe, when everything in my instinct told me that I should be doing something, I should be lending a hand.So, as President Hennessy said, I'd cover a fire and then I'd go back and I'd try to give the victims blankets.And I wouldn't be able to sleep at night because of all the things I was covering during the day.And, meanwhile, I was trying to sit gracefully like Barbara and make myself talk like Barbara.And I thought, well, I could make a pretty goofy Barbara.And if I could figure out how to be myself, I could be a pretty good Oprah.I was trying to sound elegant like Barbara.And sometimes I didn't read my copy, because something inside me said, this should be spontaneous.So, I wanted to get the news as I was giving it to the people.So, sometimes, I wouldn't read my copy and it would be, like, six people on a pileup on I-40.Oh, my goodness.And sometimes I wouldn't read the copy—because I wanted to be spontaneous—and I'd come across a list of words I didn't know and I'd mispronounce.And one day I was reading copy and I called Canada “ca nada.” And I decided, this Barbara thing's not going too well.I should try being myself.But at the same time, my dad was saying, “Oprah Gail, this is an opportunity of a lifetime.You better keep that job.” And my boss was saying, “This is the nightly news.You're an anchor, not a social worker.Just do your job.”

So, I was juggling these messages of expectation and obligation and feeling really miserable with myself.I'd go home at night and fill up my journals, 'cause I've kept a journal since I was 15—so I now have volumes of journals.So, I'd go home at night and fill up my journals about how miserable I was and frustrated.Then I'd eat my anxiety.That's where I learned that habit.And after eight months, I lost that job.They said I was too emotional.I was too much.But since they didn't want to pay out the contract, they put me on a talk show in Baltimore.And the moment I sat down on that show, the moment I did, I felt like I'd come home.I realized that TV could be more than just a playground, but a platform for service, for helping other people lift their lives.And the moment I sat down, doing that talk show, it felt like breathing.It felt right.And that's where everything that followed for me began.And I got that lesson.When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid.It's true.And how do you know when you're doing something right? How do you know that? It feels so.What I know now is that feelings are really your GPS system for life.When you're supposed to do something or not supposed to do something, your emotional guidance system lets you know.The trick is to learn to check your ego at the door and start checking your gut instead.Every right decision I've made—every right decision I've ever made—has come from my gut.And every wrong decision I've ever made was a result of me not listening to the greater voice of myself.If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.That's the lesson.And that lesson alone will save you, my friends, a lot of grief.Even doubt means don't.This is what I've learned.There are many times when you don't know what to do.When you don't know what to do, get still, get very still, until you do know what to do.And when you do get still and let your internal motivation be the driver, not only will your personal life improve, but you will gain a competitive edge in the working world as well.Because, as Daniel Pink writes in his best-seller, A Whole New Mind, we're entering a whole new age.And he calls it the Conceptual Age, where traits that set people apart today are going to come from our hearts—right brain—as well as our heads.It's no longer just the logical, linear, rules-based thinking that matters, he says.It's also empathy and joyfulness and purpose, inner traits that have transcendent worth.These qualities bloom when we're doing what we love, when we're involving the wholeness of ourselves in our work, both our expertise and our emotion.So, I say to you, forget about the fast lane.If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion.Honor your calling.Everybody has one.Trust your heart and success will come to you.So, how do I define success? Let me tell you, money's pretty nice.I'm not going to stand up here and tell you that it's not about money, 'cause money is very nice.I like money.It's good for buying things.But having a lot of money does not automatically make you a successful person.What you want is money and meaning.You want your work to be meaningful.Because meaning is what brings the real richness to your life.What you really want is to be surrounded by people you trust and treasure and by people who cherish you.That's when you're really rich.So, lesson one, follow your feelings.If it feels right, move forward.If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.Now I want to talk a little bit about failings, because nobody's journey is seamless or smooth.We all stumble.We all have setbacks.If things go wrong, you hit a dead end—as you will—it's just life's way of saying time to change course.So, ask every failure—this is what I do with every failure, every crisis, every difficult time—I say, what is this here to teach me? And as soon as you get the lesson, you get to move on.If you really get the lesson, you pass and you don't have to repeat the class.If you don't get the lesson, it shows up wearing another pair of pants—or skirt—to give you some remedial work.And what I've found is that difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper, because life always whispers to you first.And if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you'll get a scream.Whatever you resist persists.But, if you ask the right question—not why is this happening, but what is this here to teach me?—it puts you in the place and space to get the lesson you need.My friend Eckhart Tolle, who's written this wonderful book called A New Earth that's all about letting the awareness of who you are stimulate everything that you do, he puts it like this: He says, don't react against a bad situation;merge with that situation instead.And the solution will arise from the challenge.Because surrendering yourself doesn't mean giving up;it means acting with responsibility.Many of you know that, as President Hennessy said, I started this school in Africa.And I founded the school, where I'm trying to give South African girls a shot at a future like yours—Stanford.And I spent five years making sure that school would be as beautiful as the students.I wanted every girl to feel her worth reflected in her surroundings.So, I checked every blueprint, I picked every pillow.I was looking at the grout in between the bricks.I knew every thread count of the sheets.I chose every girl from the villages, from nine provinces.And yet, last fall, I was faced with a crisis I had never anticipated.I was told that one of the dorm matrons was suspected of sexual abuse.That was, as you can imagine, devastating news.First, I cried—actually, I sobbed—for about half an hour.And then I said, let's get to it;that's all you get, a half an hour.You need to focus on the now, what you need to do now.So, I contacted a child trauma specialist.I put together a team of investigators.I made sure the girls had counseling and support.And Gayle and I got on a plane and flew to South Africa.And the whole time I kept asking that question: What is this here to teach me? And, as difficult as that experience has been, I got a lot of lessons.I understand now the mistakes I made, because I had been paying attention to all of the wrong things.I'd built that school from the outside in, when what really mattered was the inside out.So, it's a lesson that applies to all of our lives as a whole.What matters most is what's inside.What matters most is the sense of integrity, of quality and beauty.I got that lesson.And what I know is that the girls came away with something, too.They have emerged from this more resilient and knowing that their voices have power.And their resilience and spirit have given me more than I could ever give to them, which leads me to my final lesson—the one about finding happiness—which we could talk about all day, but I know you have other wacky things to do.Not a small topic this is, finding happiness.But in some ways I think it's the simplest of all.Gwendolyn Brooks wrote a poem for her children.It's called “Speech to the Young : Speech to the Progress-Toward.” And she says at the end, “Live not for battles won./ Live not for the-end-of-the-song./ Live in the along.” She's saying, like Eckhart Tolle, that you have to live for the present.You have to be in the moment.Whatever has happened to you in your past has no power over this present moment, because life is now.But I think she's also saying, be a part of something.Don't live for yourself alone.This is what I know for sure: In order to be truly happy, you must live along with and you have to stand for something larger than yourself.Because life is a reciprocal exchange.To move forward you have to give back.And to me, that is the greatest lesson of life.To be happy, you have to give something back.I know you know that, because that's a lesson that's woven into the very fabric of this university.It's a lesson that Jane and Leland Stanford got and one they've bequeathed to you.Because all of you know the story of how this great school came to be, how the Stanfords lost their only child to typhoid at the age of 15.They had every right and they had every reason to turn their backs against the world at that time, but instead, they channeled their grief and their pain into an act of grace.Within a year of their son's death, they had made the founding grant for this great school, pledging to do for other people's children what they were not able to do for their own boy.The lesson here is clear, and that is, if you're hurting, you need to help somebody ease their hurt.If you're in pain, help somebody else's pain.And when you're in a mess, you get yourself out of the mess helping somebody out of theirs.And in the process, you get to become a member of what I call the greatest fellowship of all, the sorority of compassion and the fraternity of service.The Stanfords had suffered the worst thing any mom and dad can ever endure, yet they understood that helping others is the way we help ourselves.And this wisdom is increasingly supported by scientific and sociological research.It's no longer just woo-woo soft-skills talk.There's actually a helper's high, a spiritual surge you gain from serving others.So, if you want to feel good, you have to go out and do some good.But when you do good, I hope you strive for more than just the good feeling that service provides, because I know this for sure, that doing good actually makes you better.So, whatever field you choose, if you operate from the paradigm of service, I know your life will have more value and you will be happy.I was always happy doing my talk show, but that happiness reached a depth of fulfillment, of joy, that I really can't describe to you or measure when I stopped just being on TV and looking at TV as a job and decided to use television, to use it and not have it use me, to use it as a platform to serve my viewers.That alone changed the trajectory of my success.So, I know this—that whether you're an actor, you offer your talent in the way that most inspires art.If you're an anatomist, you look at your gift as knowledge and service to healing.Whether you've been called, as so many of you here today getting doctorates and other degrees, to the professions of business, law, engineering, humanities, science, medicine, if you choose to offer your skills and talent in service, when you choose the paradigm of service, looking at life through that paradigm, it turns everything you do from a job into a gift.And I know you haven't spent all this time at Stanford just to go out and get a job.You've been enriched in countless ways.There's no better way to make your mark on the world and to share that abundance with others.My constant prayer for myself is to be used in service for the greater good.So, let me end with one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King.Dr.King said, “Not everybody can be famous.” And I don't know, but everybody today seems to want to be famous.But fame is a trip.People follow you to the bathroom, listen to you pee.It's just—try to pee quietly.It doesn't matter, they come out and say, “Ohmigod, it's you.You peed.”

That's the fame trip, so I don't know if you want that.So, Dr.King said, “Not everybody can be famous.But everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.” Those of you who are history scholars may know the rest of that passage.He said, “You don't have to have a college degree to serve.You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.You don't have to know about Plato or Aristotle to serve.You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve.You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve.You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”

In a few moments, you'll all be officially Stanford's '08.You have the heart and the smarts to go with it.And it's up to you to decide, really, where will you now use those gifts? You've got the diploma, so go out and get the lessons, 'cause I know great things are sure to come.You know, I've always believed that everything is better when you share it, so before I go, I wanted to share a graduation gift with you.Underneath your seats you'll find two of my favorite books.Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth is my current book club selection.Our New Earth webcast has been downloaded 30 million times with that book.And Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future has reassured me I'm in the right direction.I really wanted to give you cars but I just couldn't pull that off!Congratulations, '08!

Thank you.Thank you.

第四篇：乔布斯在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲

乔布斯在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲

今天我能和你们一起参加毕业典礼让我感到很荣幸，斯坦福大学是世界上一流的大学之一。我从来没有从大学毕业。说真的，今天可能是我一生中离大学毕业最近的一天。今天我将向你们讲述我生活中三个故事。这三个故事并不是什么大不了的事情，只是我生活中的三个故事而已。

第一个故事是关于怎样把生活中的点点滴滴都串联起来。

我在里德学院读了6个月的书之后就退学了，但是在我真正放弃之前大约18个月的时间里，我还经常去学校听课。那么我为什么要退学呢？

这个故事要从我出生的时候讲起。我的亲生母亲是一个未婚的年轻的研究生。她决定把我送给别人收养，她非常想让一个大学毕业生收养我。在我就要出生的时候，她已经把一切准备工作做好了，希望我被一对律师夫妇收养。唯独有一件事没有准备好：在我出生的那一刻，那对律师夫妇在最后一分钟才决定，他们其实想要一个女孩。所以排在候选名单上的我的养父母，在半夜突然接到一个电话：“我们这里刚刚生了个意料之外的男婴，你们想要他吗？”他们回答说道：“当然想要！”但是我的亲生母亲很快就发现，我的养母没有上过大学，我的养父甚至连高中都没读完。于是她拒绝在这份收养合同上签字。在几个月之后，我的养父母保证一定会让我上大学，这个时候她才勉强同意让他们收养我。

在17岁那年，我真的去上了大学。但是我当时很幼稚地选择了一所费用贵得能和你们斯坦福大学相媲美的学校。我的父母都是工薪阶层，他们几乎把他们一生所有的积蓄都花在了我的学费上。在入学6个月之后，我已经看不到在这里上学的价值所在。我当时并不知道我真正想要的到底是什么，我也不知道这所大学怎么能帮我找到我想要的答案。但是在这里，我几乎花光了我父母一生的全部积蓄。因此我决定退学，并相信这是一个明智的决定。不可否认，其实我当时的确是非常害怕的，但是现在看来，那可真是我这一生中作出的最好的一个决定。就在我做出退学决定的那一刻，我终于可以不再去读那些令我厌烦的课程了。然后我就可以去学那些我感兴趣的课程了。

可是事情并不如想象的那么浪漫。我不能再住在宿舍里了，所以我就只能睡在朋友家的地板上，靠回收空可乐瓶的5美分退费买吃的。在周日的晚上，我要穿过这个城市到Hare Krishna神庙（位于纽约布鲁克林下城—编者注），走上7英里的路只是为了吃顿好点的饭，这可是一个星期里最好的一顿饭，我喜欢那里的饭菜。

追随我的好奇心和与直觉，我所投入过的大部分的事情，后来看来都是无比珍贵的。我在这里给你们举个例子吧：那时候里德学院的美术字课程可能是全美最好的美术字课。这所大学里的每份海报，每个抽屉的标签上面全部都是最漂亮的美术字体。因为我退学了，所以我不必去上那些正规的课程，可以去学学那些美术字课程，学习怎样才能写出漂亮的美术字。我学会了衬线字体和无衬线字体，我还学会如何改变不同字母之间的空间距离，还学会了如何去做出最好的印刷式样。那种美妙的艺术感和历史感，是科学永远都不可能做到的，我发现那真的是很让人着迷。

在当时看来，这些东西在我生命中好像没有什么实际的用处，但只在十年之后，当我们在设计第一台麦金塔电脑的时候,我发觉了这些东西的用处。我把当时我学到的那些东西全

部都用到了麦金塔的设计上。那是第一台有非常漂亮的印刷字体的电脑。如果我当时没有退学的话，就没有机会去参加那个我感兴趣的美术字课程，麦金塔也就不会有那么多丰富的美术字体和那些美妙的字体间距。因为Windows只是照抄了麦金塔，所以现在大家使用的个人电脑才会有那么多美妙的字体。

当然在上大学的时候，我还不能前瞻性地把那些点点滴滴联系起来，但是在十年之后，在回顾这一切的时候，真的是豁然开朗了。

我再说一次，你在展望未来的时候可能还不能将那些点滴的片段串联起来；只有在你回顾的时候才能将它们串联起来。所以你一定要相信这些片断会在你未来某一天里全部串联起来。在你的生命中你必须相信某些东西：你的直觉、命运、生命、缘分……在这个过程中从来都没有令我失望过，而且让我的生命更加与众不同。

我第二个要讲的故事是关于爱和失去。

我真的是非常的幸运，在很早的时候就找到了我感兴趣的那些东西。沃兹和我在我们20多岁的时候就在我父母的车库里开创了苹果公司。我们很努力地工作，10年之后，这个公司从只有两个穷小子发展到拥有4000多名员工、市值超过20亿美元的大公司。在这家公司成立的第9年里，我们发布了最棒的产品，那就是麦金塔。那年我刚好30岁。然后，我被炒鱿鱼了。

你怎么可能被你自己一手创立起来的公司给炒鱿鱼了呢？嗯,在苹果公司快速发展的时期，我们雇用了一个我认为非常有天分的人和我一起管理这家公司。在开始的几年里，苹果公司运转得非常好，但是后来我们在公司未来的发展上发生了分歧，最终我们吵了起来。当我们吵得很凶的时候，董事会站了出来，并且站到了他的那边。所以在我30岁的时候，我被炒了鱿鱼。在众目睽睽之下我被苹果开除了。在而立之年，这绝对是毁灭性的打击。我生命的全部支柱都离我而去。

在被开除的最初几个月里，我真是不知道自己该做些什么。我觉得我很令上一代的那些创业家们失望，我把他们交给我的接力棒弄丢了。我和创办惠普的大卫·帕克、创办英特尔的鲍勃·诺伊斯见面，并想向他们道歉，因为我把事情弄得很糟糕。但是我渐渐地发现希望，因为我仍然喜爱我从事的那些事情。在苹果公司发生的那些不愉快的事情丝毫没有改变我的想法，一点也没有改变。我被苹果抛弃了，但我仍然钟爱我所从事的事情。所以我决定东山再起，从头再来。我当时并没有觉察,?但是事后证明，被苹果公司炒鱿鱼是我这辈子发生的最棒的事情。因为，作为一个成功者的负重感被作为一个创业者的轻松感所代替，对任何事情都不再那么特别看重了。这让我感觉很自由，我进入了生命中最有创造力的一个阶段。在接下来的五年里，我创立了一个新的公司名字叫NeXT，同时还创立了一个叫皮克斯的公司,?然后和一个后来成为我妻子的美丽女人相识。而皮克斯制作出了世界上第一个用电脑制作的动画电影—《玩具总动员》，皮克斯现在已经是世界上最成功的电脑动画制作工作室。后来，苹果收购了NeXT，之后我就又回到了苹果公司。我们在NeXT公司创新出来的技术对苹果的今天发展起到至关重要的作用。而且，我还和劳伦斯一起建立了一个幸福美满的家庭。

我可以非常肯定，如果当初我不被苹果开除的话，那么后来的这些事情一件也不会发生的。良药确实苦口，但是我想病人需要这个药。有些时候，上帝会跟你开一个很大的玩笑。

这时不要失去信仰。我确信，我热爱我所做的事情，是这些年来支持我继续走下去的唯一理由。你需要去找到你所爱的东西。对于工作是如此，对于你的爱人也是如此。你的工作将会占据生活中很大的一部分。你只有相信自己所做的是伟大的工作，你才能怡然自得。如果你现在还没有找到，那么继续找，不要停下来。只要全心全意地去找，在你找到的时候，你的心就会告诉你的。这就像任何深厚的关系，随着岁月的流逝只会越来越紧密。所以继续找，直到你找到它为止，千万不要停下来！

我讲的第三个故事是关于死亡的。

在我17岁的时候，我读过这样一句话：“如果你把每一天都当作生命中最后一天去生活的话，那么有一天你会发现你是正确的。”这句话给我留下了深刻的印象。从那个时候开始，在过去的33年里，我每天早晨都会对着镜子问自己：“如果今天是你生命中的最后一天，你会不会完成你今天想做的事情呢？”如果答案连续很多天都是“不”的话，我知道自己需要改变一些事情了。

“记住你终将死去”是我一生中遇到的最重要箴言。它帮我指明了生命的方向。因为几乎所有的事情，包括所有来自外部的期望、所有的荣誉、所有的骄傲、所有对困难和失败的恐惧，所有的这些在死亡面前都会消失，而留下来的那些才是真正重要的东西。你有时候会想你将会失去某些东西，“记住你终将死去”是我所知道的避免这些思维陷阱的最好办法。你已经什么都没有了，没有理由不去听从自己内心的声音。

大约在一年以前，我被诊断出了癌症。我那天早晨七点半做了一个体检，体检报告清楚地显示在我的胰腺上有一个肿瘤。说实话当时我都不知道胰腺是什么东西。医生告诉我说这很可能是一种无法治愈的癌症，我只能活三到六个月的时间。我的医生叫我回家，然后准备好一切后事，那是医生对临终病人的标准程序。那意味着你将要把未来十年对你小孩说的话在几个月里面说完；那意味着把每件事情都安排好，让你的家人会尽可能轻松地生活；那意味着你要说“再见了”。我拿着那个诊断书过了整整一天，当天晚上我作了一个切片检查，医生将一个内窥镜从我的喉咙伸进去，通过我的胃，然后进入我的肠子，用一根针从我的胰腺肿瘤上取了几个细胞。当时我是被麻醉的，但是我的妻子在那里，后来她告诉我，当医生在显微镜下观察到这些细胞的时候他们欢呼起来，因为这些细胞竟然是一种非常罕见的可以用手术治愈的胰腺癌症细胞。之后我就做了手术，现在我很好。

那个时候是我最接近死亡的时刻，我希望这也是我以后的几十年里最接近的一次。从死亡线上我又活了过来，现在，比起只把死亡当成一种想象中的概念，我可以更肯定地对你们说：没有人愿意死，即使人们想上天堂，也没有人愿意去死。但是死亡是我们每个人共同的终点。从来没有人能够逃脱它。其实也应该是如此，因为死亡很可能就是生命中最棒的一种“发明”。它是生命交替的媒介。它将老的清除，以便给年轻的让路。你们现在是年轻的，但是从现在开始过不了多久，你们将会逐渐变成老的然后被送离人生舞台。我很抱歉说得很戏剧性，但是这确实是真实的。

你的时间是有限的，所以不要浪费时间活在别人的生活里。不要被教条束缚，那意味着你将按别人的想法生活。不要让其他人的观点弱化你内心的声音。还有最重要的一点就是，要有勇气去听从来自内心和直觉的指示—你自己其实已经知道你真正想要成为什么样的人，而其他所有的一切都是次要的。

当我年轻的时候，有一本很棒的杂志，叫做《地球全目录》。它是我们那一代人的圣经之一。它是由一个叫斯图尔特·布兰德的人在离这里不远的门洛帕克创办的，他诗人一般神奇地将这本书带到了这个世界。那是在20世纪60年代后期，当时个人电脑还没有出现，因此这本书全部是用打字机、剪刀还有一次成影照相机做出来的。那样子是有点像今天的谷歌的“平装版”，那是在谷歌出现35年以前：这本杂志是理想主义的，其实这其中有许多巧妙的工具和伟大的想法。

斯图尔特和他的伙伴出版了好几期《地球全目录》。当它完成了自己使命的时候，他们出了最后一期。那是在20世纪70年代的中期，我正像你们一样年轻。在最后一期的封底上是清晨乡村公路的照片（如果你有冒险精神的话，你可以自己找到这条路的），在照片之下有这样一段话：“求知若饥，虚心若愚。” 这是他们停止发刊的告别语。“求知若饥，虚心若愚。”我总是希望自己能够那样，现在，在你们即将毕业，开始新的旅程的时候，我也希望你们能这样。

求知若饥，虚心若愚。

非常感谢你们！

第五篇：乔布斯在斯坦福大学学生毕业典礼上的演讲全文

乔布斯：你必须找到你所爱的东西

摘要

今天能够在世界上最优秀的高校之一参加各位的毕业典礼，我感到十分荣幸。我本人没能从大学毕业。说句实在话，今天要算我同大学毕业之间距离最近的一次了。现在，我想给诸位讲三个我的人生故事。是的，没什么大道理，只讲三个故事。

本文是苹果公司及Pixar动画工厂CEO史蒂夫·乔布斯于2005年6月12日在斯坦福大学学生毕业典礼上发表的演讲。

今天能够在世界上最优秀的高校之一参加各位的毕业典礼，我感到十分荣幸。我本人没能从大学毕业。说句实在话，今天要算我同大学毕业之间距离最近的一次了。现在，我想给诸位讲三个我的人生故事。是的，没什么大道理，只讲三个故事。第一个故事是关于串起你生命中的点点滴滴。

我在里德学院念了6个月大学后就退学了，但随后我在学校旁听了18个月的课，然后才真正地辍学。那么，我为什么要退学呢？

故事要从我出生前说起。我的亲生母亲是个未婚的大学研究生，她决定把我交给别人收养。她很坚持我的养父母也应该是大学研究生，于是一切就这么安排好了：我出 生后由一位律师和他的妻子领养。但是就在我呱呱坠地的一刻，事情起了变化，律师夫妇突然宣布他们想收养的是女孩。我爸和我妈当时正列在收养人候选名单上，于是他俩半夜接到一个电话说：“我们这儿出了个意外，有个男孩，你们要收养吗？”他俩说：“当然要。”后来，我的亲生母亲发现，我妈大学没毕业而我爸甚至 高中都没读完。她于是拒绝在最后的收养协议上签字，直到拖了几个月后我爸妈承诺说将来一定送我读大学才算同意。

17年后，我果然上了大学。可是，我天真地选择了一所差不多跟斯坦福一样贵的大学，我那劳工阶层的爸妈攒下的积蓄就成了我的大学学费。念了6个 月后，我看不出这种生活有什么价值。对于我的人生，我不知道应该用它来做什么，我也不知道大学生活怎么能帮我解答这个问题。于是我决定退学，相信这条路一 定走得通。这在当时是很恐怖的一件事，但是现在回首看去，这是我作过的最好的决定之一。从退学的那一分钟起，我就可以不上无趣的必修课，而且可以去旁听那 些让我感兴趣的课程。

这并不是一种很浪漫的生活。我没有宿舍住，因此要睡在朋友宿舍的地板上。我收集喝空的可乐瓶，每个瓶子换回押金5美分供我买食物充饥。每个星期天晚上，我会走7英里的路穿过波特兰市区去Hare Krishna神庙去吃顿好的（译注：Hare Krishna神庙是印度教修习场所，周日有灵修活动和免费聚餐）。我很喜欢这顿牙祭。很多在这段跟随自己的好奇心和直觉度过的日子里学到的东西，后来都让我获益匪浅。且让我给你们举个例子：

当时里德学院的书法课程大概是美国国内最好的了。校园里的每一幅海报、抽屉上的每一张标签都是用漂亮的字体手写而成的。由于已经退学，用不着去上常规课，我 就参加了一门书法课，去学写字。我学习serif字体和san serif字体，学习不同字母组合中间隙空间的变化，学习怎么让好看的字体在应用中变得更好看。书法很美，历史悠久，而且有着精妙的艺术感，为科学所无法 企及，我对它入了迷。

这些对于我的生活毫无任何实际的用途，我也从没指望有过。但是，10年后，当我们在设计第一台Macintosh电脑的时候，我学的这些又回到我的脑海里。我们在设计中全面应用了这些知识。Macintosh成为第一台拥有漂亮字体的电脑。假如我当年没有旁听这门课程，Mac就不会有多种不同字体以及字符按 比例间隔的字形；而且由于Windows照抄了Mac的设计，也就是说很可能就不会有今天这个样子的个人电脑了。假如不退学，我就不会旁听书法课，今天的 个人电脑就不会带有现在的好看的字体。当然了，在学校的时候我不可能预见到这些点滴事件之间的联系。但是，10年之后再看过去，这种联系非常非常清楚。

再说一遍。你没法预知你人生的点点滴滴之间会有怎样的关系；你只能在事后把它们串接起来。因此，你必须相信，这些人生的片段会在你的未来产生联系。你必须相信点什么——你的勇气、命运、生活、因缘，什么都可以。这个办法对我一直都很有效，它造就了我的人生。我的第二个故事是关于爱与失败的。

我很幸运，在人生很早的时期就找到了我所喜爱的东西。20岁时我和Woz在我爸妈的车库里建立了苹果公司。我们很努力地工作，10年之后苹果电脑由最初车库 中的两个人变成一家有4000多员工、价值20亿美元的公司。那个时候我们最棒的产品——Macintosh——刚刚推出一年，而我刚刚30岁。然后我就 被解雇了。你怎么可能被你自己创立的公司解雇？呃，是这样的，随着苹果公司的发展壮大，我们请了一个在我看来非常有才能的人来和我一起管理公司。第一年一 切都非常顺利。但是后来我们对于未来的看法出现了分歧，最终我们之间起了争论。争执发生之后，我们的董事会站在了他那一边。于是，30岁时我被炒掉了。一 次非常惹人注目的解雇。一直以来都是我成年生活核心的东西，忽然不复存在了。那感觉相当可怕。

有几个月的时间，我完全不知道该干什么。我感到自己辜负了前辈企业家的期望——就像接力棒交到我的手里，而我却把它丢掉了。我跟David Packard和Bob Noyce见面，为自己把事情弄得如此糟糕而道歉。我成了一名众所周知的失败者。我甚至想过离开硅谷。然而有一种东西慢慢照亮了我：我依然爱着我所爱的东 西。发生在苹果公司的事并没能改变这一点。是的我被赶走了，但是我的爱依然还在。于是我决定重新开始。

我当时并不知道，实际上被苹果解雇是当时发生在我身上的最好的事了。事业成功所伴随的那种沉重不见了，取而代之的是重回起跑线的那种新手的轻盈。对于一切我都不再确信无疑。我获得了解放，进而开始了我一生中最富有创造力的时期。

在接下去的五年中，我建立了一家名叫NeXT的公司，然后又建立了Pixar公司，并与一位奇妙的女士共堕爱河，她后来成为了我的太太。Pixar创作出了 世界上第一部电脑动画电影——《玩具总动员》。现在它已经是世界上最成功的动画工作室。再后来，经过一次戏剧性的收购，苹果公司买下了NeXT，我重返苹 果。我们在NeXT开发的技术现在成为苹果复兴事业的核心，Laurene跟我也组建了一个美好的家庭。我很确定，假如苹果没有开除我，所有这一切都不会发生。这是一剂味道糟糕的苦药，但是我想这正是病人所需。有时候，生活会用板砖砸你的头。一定不要失去信仰。我知道，唯一支撑我前进的东西就是：我爱我所做的事。你必须找到你所爱的东西。这 句话不仅适用于你的工作也同样适用于你的恋爱。你的工作将构成你生活的大部分，而唯一能让你真正从工作中得到满足的办法就是爱你所做的事。假如你还没有找 到它，继续找吧。不要停下脚步。同所有与心灵相关的东西一样，当你找到它时，你会知道的。而且就像那些美好的爱情一样，它会随着岁月的增长而越加醇美。所 以，继续找吧，直到你把它找到。不要停下脚步。我的第三个故事是关于死亡的。

我17岁那年读到过一句话，大意是这样：“假如你把每一天都当成你在人世的最后一天来过，总有一天你会发现自己是对的。”这话给我留下了印象。自那时 起，33年来的每个早晨，我都对着镜子自问：“假如今天是我这辈子最后的一天，我还会做我今天要做的这些事吗？”每当连续很多天答案都是“不会”的时候，我就知道有什么东西需要改变了。

记住自己将不久于人世，这是我在作出人生重大选择时的一个最重要的参考工具。因为几乎所有的一切——一切外界对你的期待、一切荣耀、一切对丢脸和失败的恐惧 ——它们在面对死亡的时候都黯然失色，剩下的只有真正重要的东西。在我看来，记住你终将死去是帮助你避开“我可能会失去xxx”思维陷阱的最佳方法。你已 经是赤裸裸的了。没有理由不追随自己的心灵去生活。

大约一年前，我被查出患有癌症。早上7点半，我做了一次扫描，结果很清楚地显示出我的胰腺里有一个肿瘤。当时我连胰腺是什么都不知道。大夫们告诉我，差不多 可以肯定这是一种无法治愈的癌，我估计还能再活三到六个月。我的医生建议我回家去，把事情都做个了结。这是医生的行话，它意味着料理后事，意味着在接下去 的几个月里把你10年内要对孩子们说的话提前说完，意味着为了让你的家人日后好过，把每一件事都作好安排，意味着对这个世界说再见。一整天我的脑 子里只有这个判决。当天晚上，我做了一次组织切片检查：他们把一个内窥镜伸进我的喉咙，穿过我的胃一直进到肠子里，用一枚探针伸进胰脏取得了一些组织细 胞。我被麻醉了，但是当时在场的妻子告诉我，医生们把这些细胞放到显微镜下观察之后都惊叫起来，因为他们发现这是一种非常罕见的、通过手术可以治愈的胰腺 癌。后来我做了手术，现在已经痊愈了。

迄今为止，这是我距离死亡最近的一次，希望这也是未来几十年里我离死亡最近的一次。经历了这件事，死亡对我而言已经不再只是一个有用而仅限纯粹想象的概念，因此我可以更加确信地跟你们谈起我对死亡的看法：

没有人想要死。就算那些想进天堂的人也不想为此去死。但是死亡是我们共同的终点。从未有人逃离过死亡。而这是合理的，因为死亡乃是生命最好的发明。它是生命 的代谢催化剂，去除老朽，迎接新鲜。现在新鲜的是你们，但是用不了太久，某天你们会发现自己已经渐渐变得老朽，将被取代。抱歉说得这么夸张，但是这是真 理。

我们的时间是有限的，所以请不要浪费时间去过你不想要的生活。不要被教条所迷惑——它诱使你按照他人的思维定式生活。不要让别人发出的声音遮盖住你自己的心声。最重要的是，要有勇气追随你的心灵和直觉。它们会知道你真正想要做一个什么样的人。其他的一切都是次要的。当我还很年轻的时候，有一本刊物名叫《环球百科目录》，是我那一代人必读的圣典之一。它是由一个叫Stewart Brand的人在距此不远的Menlo Park出版的，此人以他富于诗意的工作为这份刊物注入了生命。那是在60年代末，个人电脑和桌面出版还远未发明，因此这本刊物完全是由打字机、剪刀和拍 立得相机做出来的。它就像平装本的Google，不过是在Google诞生的35年前：一样是那么的理想主义，充满着简洁的工具和了不起的洞见。

Stewart 和他的团队出版了数期《环球百科目录》，随后刊物的生命走到了尽头，他们就出版了最终的一期。那是在70年代中期了，我正是你们这个年纪。在最后一期封 底，是一幅清晨乡村公路的照片——假如你搭便车上路探险，就会看到这种景色。在照片下方写着这样的话：“饥以求知，痴而求真。”我一直希望自己能做到这 样。现在，在你们即将毕业的时刻，我用这句话来祝福你们。

饥以求知，痴而求真。谢谢大家。