求知若饥虚心若愚Stay Hungry Stay FoolishWord文档格式.docx

求知若饥虚心若愚Stay Hungry Stay FoolishWord文档格式.docx

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I'

mhonoredtobewithyoutodayforyourcommencementfromoneofthefinestuniversitiesintheworld.Truthbetold,Inevergraduatedfromcollege,andthisistheclosestI'

veevergottentoacollegegraduation.Today,Iwanttotellyouthreestoriesfrommylife.That'

sit.Nobigdeal.Justthreestories.

Thefirststoryisaboutconnectingthedots.

IdroppedoutofReedCollegeafterthefirstsixmonths,butthenstayedaroundasadrop-inforanother18monthsorsobeforeIreallyquit.SowhydidIdropout?

ItstartedbeforeIwasborn.Mybiologicalmotherwasayoung,unwedgraduatestudent,andshedecidedtoputmeupforadoption.ShefeltverystronglythatIshouldbeadoptedbycollegegraduates,soeverythingwasallsetformetobeadoptedatbirthbyalawyerandhiswife--exceptthatwhenIpoppedouttheydecidedatthelastminutethattheyreallywantedagirl.

Somyparents,whowereonawaitinglist,gotacallinthemiddleofthenightasking,"

We'

vegotanunexpectedbabyboy;

doyouwanthim?

"

Theysaid,"

Ofcourse."

Mybiologicalmotherfoundoutlaterthatmymotherhadnevergraduatedfromcollegeandthatmyfatherhadnevergraduatedfromhighschool.Sherefusedtosignthefinaladoptionpapers.SheonlyrelentedafewmonthslaterwhenmyparentspromisedthatIwouldgotocollege.Thiswasthestartinmylife.

And17yearslaterIdidgotocollege.ButInaivelychoseacollegethatwasalmostasexpensiveasStanford,andallofmyworking-classparents'

savingswerebeingspentonmycollegetuition.Aftersixmonths,Icouldn'

tseethevalueinit.IhadnoideawhatIwantedtodowithmylifeandnoideahowcollegewasgoingtohelpmefigureitout.AndhereIwasspendingallofthemoneymyparentshadsavedtheirentirelife.

SoIdecidedtodropoutandtrustthatitwouldallworkoutokay.Itwasprettyscaryatthetime,butlookingbackitwasoneofthebestdecisionsIevermade.TheminuteIdroppedoutIcouldstoptakingtherequiredclassesthatdidn'

tinterestme,andbegindroppinginontheonesthatlookedfarmoreinteresting.

Itwasn'

tallromantic.Ididn'

thaveadormroom,soIsleptonthefloorinfriends'

rooms.Ireturnedcokebottlesforthefivecentdepositstobuyfoodwith,andIwouldwalkthesevenmilesacrosstowneverySundaynighttogetonegoodmealaweekattheHareKrishnatemple.Ilovedit.AndmuchofwhatIstumbledintobyfollowingmycuriosityandintuitionturnedouttobepricelesslateron.Letmegiveyouoneexample:

ReedCollegeatthattimeofferedperhapsthebestcalligraphyinstructioninthecountry.Throughoutthecampuseveryposter,everylabeloneverydrawer,wasbeautifullyhandcalligraphed.BecauseIhaddroppedoutanddidn'

thavetotakethenormalclasses,Idecidedtotakeacalligraphyclasstolearnhowtodothis.Ilearnedaboutserifandsanseriftypefaces,aboutvaryingtheamountofspacebetweendifferentlettercombinations,aboutwhatmakesgreattypographygreat.Itwasbeautiful,historical,artisticallysubtleinawaythatsciencecan'

tcapture,andIfounditfascinating.

Noneofthishadevenahopeofanypracticalapplicationinmylife.Buttenyearslater,whenweweredesigningthefirstMacintoshcomputer,itallcamebacktome.AndwedesigneditallintotheMac.Itwasthefirstcomputerwithbeautifultypography.IfIhadneverdroppedinonthatsinglecourseincollege,the"

Mac"

wouldhaveneverhadmultipletypefacesorproportionallyspacedfonts.AndsinceWindowsjustcopiedtheMac,it'

slikelythatnopersonalcomputerwouldhavethem.IfIhadneverdroppedout,Iwouldhaveneverdroppedinonthatcalligraphyclass,andpersonalcomputersmightnothavethewonderfultypographythattheydo.OfcourseitwasimpossibletoconnectthedotslookingforwardwhenIwasincollege.Butitwasvery,veryclearlookingbackwards10yearslater.

Again,youcan'

tconnectthedotslookingforward;

youcanonlyconnectthemlookingbackwards.Soyouhavetotrustthatthedotswillsomehowconnectinyourfuture.Youhavetotrustinsomething--yourgut,destiny,life,karma,whatever--becausebelievingthatthedotswillconnectdowntheroadwillgiveyoutheconfidencetofollowyourheart,evenwhenitleadsyouoffthewell-wornpath,andthatwillmakeallthedifference.

Mysecondstoryisaboutloveandloss.

Iwaslucky--IfoundwhatIlovedtodoearlyinlife.Woz1andIstartedAppleinmyparents'

garagewhenIwas20.Weworkedhard,andin10yearsApplehadgrownfromjustthetwoofusinagarageintoatwobilliondollarcompanywithover4000employees.We'

djustreleasedourfinestcreation--theMacintosh--ayearearlier,andIhadjustturned30.

AndthenIgotfired.Howcanyougetfiredfromacompanyyoustarted?

Well,asApplegrewwehiredsomeonewhoIthoughtwasverytalentedtorunthecompanywithme,andforthefirstyearorsothingswentwell.Butthenourvisionsofthefuturebegantodivergeandeventuallywehadafallingout.Whenwedid,ourBoardofDirectorssidedwithhim.Andsoat30,Iwasout.Andverypubliclyout.Whathadbeenthefocusofmyentireadultlifewasgone,anditwasdevastating.

Ireallydidn'

tknowwhattodoforafewmonths.IfeltthatIhadletthepreviousgenerationofentrepreneursdown--thatIhaddroppedthebatonasitwasbeingpassedtome.ImetwithDavidPackardandBobNoyceandtriedtoapologizeforscrewingupsobadly.Iwasaverypublicfailure,andIeventhoughtaboutrunningawayfromthevalley.Butsomethingslowlybegantodawnonme:

IstilllovedwhatIdid.TheturnofeventsatApplehadnotchangedthatonebit.Ihadbeenrejected,butIwasstillinlove.AndsoIdecidedtostartover.

Ididn'

tseeitthen,butitturnedoutthatgettingfiredfromApplewasthebestthingthatcouldhaveeverhappenedtome.Theheavinessofbeingsuccessfulwasreplacedbythelightnessofbeingabeginneragain,lesssureabouteverything.Itfreedmetoenteroneofthemostcreativeperiodsofmylife.

Duringthenextfiveyears,IstartedacompanynamedNeXT,anothercompanynamedPixar,andfellinlovewithanamazingwomanwhowouldbecomemywife.Pixarwentontocreatetheworld'

sfirstcomputer-animatedfeaturefilm,ToyStory,andisnowthemostsuccessfulanimationstudiointheworld.Inaremarkableturnofevents,AppleboughtNeXT,andIreturnedtoApple,andthetechnologywedevelopedatNeXTisattheheartofApple'

scurrentrenaissance.AndLaureneandIhaveawonderfulfamilytogether.

mprettysurenoneofthiswouldhavehappenedifIhadn'

tbeenfiredfromApple.Itwasawfultastingmedicine,butIguessthepatientneededit.Sometimelife--Sometimeslifegoingtohityouintheheadwithabrick.Don'

tlosefaith.I'

mconvincedthattheonlythingthatkeptmegoingwasthatIlovedwhatIdid.You'

vegottofindwhatyoulove.

Andthatisastrueforyourworkasitisforyourlovers.Yourworkisgoingtofillalargepartofyourlife,andtheonlywaytobetrulysatisfiedistodowhatyoubelieveisgreatwork.Andtheonlywaytodogreatworkistolovewhatyoudo.Ifyouhaven'

tfoundityet,keeplooking--anddon'

tsettle.Aswithallmattersoftheheart,you'

llknowwhenyoufindit.Andlikeanygreatrelationship,itjustgetsbetterandbetterastheyearsrollon.Sokeeplooking--don'

tsettle.

Mythirdstoryisaboutdeath.

WhenIwas17,Ireadaquotethatwentsomethinglike:

"

Ifyouliveeachdayasifitwasyourlast,somedayyou'

llmostcertainlyberight."

Itmadeanimpressiononme,andsincethen,forthepast33years,I'

velookedinthemirroreverymorningandaskedmyself:

Iftodaywerethelastdayofmylife,wouldIwanttodowhatIamabouttodotoday?

Andwhenevertheanswerhasbeen"

No"

fortoomanydaysinarow,IknowIneedtochangesomething.

RememberingthatI'

llbedeadsoonisthemostimportanttoolI'

veeverencounteredtohelpmemakethebigchoicesinlife.Becausealmosteverything--allexternalexpectations,allpride,allfearofembarrassmentorfailure--thesethingsjustfallawayinthefaceofdeath,leavingonlywhatistrulyimportant.RememberingthatyouaregoingtodieisthebestwayIknowtoavoidthetrapofthinkingyouhavesomethingtolose.Youarealreadynaked.Thereisnoreasonnottofollowyourheart.

AboutayearagoIwasdiagnosedwithcancer.Ihadascanat7:

30inthemorning,anditclearlyshowedatumoronmypancreas.Ididn'

tevenknowwhatapancreaswas.Thedoctorstoldmethiswasalmostcertainlyatypeofcancerthatisincurable,andthatIshouldexpecttolivenolongerthanthreetosixmonths.Mydoctoradvisedmetogohomeandgetmyaffairsinorder,whichisdoctor'

scodefor"

preparetodie."

Itmeanstotryandtellyourkidseverythingyouthoughtyou'

dhavethenext10yearstotelltheminjustafewmonths.Itmeanstomakesureeverythingisbuttonedupsothatitwillbeaseasyaspossibleforyourfamily.Itmeanstosayyourgoodbyes.

Ilivedwiththatdiagnosisallday.LaterthateveningIhadabiopsy,wheretheystuckanendoscopedownmythroat,throughmystomachintomyintestines,putaneedleintomypancreasandgotafewcellsfromthetumor.Iwassedated,butmywife,whowasthere,toldmethatwhentheyviewedthecellsunderamicroscopethedoctorsstartedcryingbecauseitturnedouttobeaveryrareformofpancreaticcancerthatiscurablewithsurgery.Ihadthesurgeryand,thankfully,I'

mfinenow.

Thiswasthecl