Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.

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 learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.

I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.

This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

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.

And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.

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.

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.

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.

This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit.

Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

It was their farewell message as they signed off.

But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me.

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 met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

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?"

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.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.

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.

My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

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.

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.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

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.

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.

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.

Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20.

No big deal.

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.

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.

Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

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.

Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20.

Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

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.

It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

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?"

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.

And we designed it all into the Mac.

Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.

Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.

And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.

When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him.

It clears out the old to make way for the new.

This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

It clears out the old to make way for the new.

It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.

You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

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.

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.

But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

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.

It means to say your goodbyes.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.

I lived with that diagnosis all day.

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?"

This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.

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.

It started before I was born.

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.

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.

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.

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.

And then I got fired.

Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

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.

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.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry.

So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.

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.

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.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

It started before I was born.

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.

It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.

My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

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.

Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

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.

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.

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.

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

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.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

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.

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.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

And 17 years later I did go to college.

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

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.

I had been rejected, but I was still in love.

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.

I loved it.

I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley.

My third story is about death.

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.

I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley.

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."

So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

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.

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?"

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.

Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

And very publicly out.

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.

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.

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.

Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I loved it.

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 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.

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.

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.

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.

It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

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.

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.

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.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

I had been rejected, but I was still in love.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

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 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?"

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades.

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.

You are already naked.

Don't lose faith.

Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

And 17 years later I did go to college.

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.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

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 met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

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.

Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

And we designed it all into the Mac.

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.

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.

And then I got fired.

And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.

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.

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.

But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit.

And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

Just three stories.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.

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.

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.

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.

My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit.

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 never graduated from college.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

It was their farewell message as they signed off.

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.

It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

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

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

No one has ever escaped it.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life.

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Thank you all very much.

Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

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.

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday 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.

And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.

Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

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?"

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.

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.

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.

They said: "Of course."

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.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

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.

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 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.

Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.

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.

But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.

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.

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?"

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.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

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.

Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

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.

I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

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.

Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.

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.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.

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.

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?"

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.

It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."

My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

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.

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?"

It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

Thank you all very much.

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.

It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

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.

It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

And I have always wished that for myself.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months.

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.

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.

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.

She refused to sign the final adoption papers.

We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30.

After six months, I couldn't see the value in it.

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?"

Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

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.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.

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 awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

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.

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?"

It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

Thank you all very much.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

It started before I was born.

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.

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.

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

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.

They said: "Of course."

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.

No big deal.

Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry.

It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

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 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.

Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.

My second story is about love and loss.

It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

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.

The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit.

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.

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

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 had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.

You are already naked.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

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.

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.

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.

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?"

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.

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.

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.

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.

I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley.

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.

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?"

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.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.

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?"

Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

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.

But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did.

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.

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.

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.

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.

I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley.

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 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.

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

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.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.