Steve Jobs

Stanford University, June 12, 2005 Steve Jobs promised "three stories from my life," and the plain structure is half the reason the speech has lasted. One is about dropping out and auditing a calligraphy class that later gave the Mac its typography, one about being fired from the company he started, and one about a cancer diagnosis. That last story gives the speech its weight: "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered" for making big choices. He closes with a line borrowed from the Whole Earth Catalog, "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." Start here if you have never watched a commencement speech.