喬布斯勵志演講稿4篇

篇一：勵志演講,感悟人生,喬布斯

喬布斯在斯坦福大學畢業典禮上的演講

------- [你們的時間是有限的，不要浪費在重複別人的生活上。不要被教條束縛，那意味着會和別人思考的結果一塊兒生活。不要被其他人的喧囂觀點掩蓋自己內心真正的聲音。你的直覺和內心知道你想要變成什麼樣子。所有其他東西都是次要的。]

(這是蘋果公司和Pixar動畫工作室的CEO Steve Jobs於2005年6月12號在斯坦福大學的畢業典禮上面的演講稿。)

Thank you. I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

謝謝大家。很榮幸能和你們，來自世界最好大學之一的畢業生們，一塊兒參加畢業典禮。老實說，我大學沒有畢業，今天恐怕是我一生中離大學畢業最近的一次了。

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

今天我想告訴大家來自我生活的三個故事。沒什麼大不了的，只是三個故事而已。 The first story is about connecting the dots.

第一個故事，如何串連生命中的點滴。

I dropped out of Reed College after the first six 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 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've got an unexpected baby boy. Do you want him?" They said, "Of course." My biological mother found out later 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 go to college.

我在裏得大學讀了六個月就退學了，但是在18個月之後--我真正退學之前，我還常去學校。爲何

我要選擇退學呢？這還得從我出生之前說起。我的生母是一個年輕、未婚的大學畢業生，她決定讓別人收養我。她有一個很強烈的信仰，認爲我應該被一個大學畢業生家庭收養。於是，一對律師夫婦說好了要領養我，然而最後一秒鐘，他們改變了主意，決定要個女孩兒。然後我排在收養人名單中的養父母在一個深夜接到電話，“很意外，我們多了一個男嬰，你們要嗎？”“當然要！”但是我的生母后來又發現我的養母沒有大學畢業，養父連高中都沒有畢業。她拒絕在領養書上簽字。幾個月後，我的養父母保證會讓我上大學，她妥協了。

This was the start in my life. 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 of how college was going to help me figure it out, and here I was, spending all 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 far more interesting.

這是我生命的開端。十七年後，我上大學了，但是我很無知地選了一所差不多和斯坦福一樣貴的學校，幾乎花掉我那藍領階層養父母一生的積蓄。六個月後，我覺得不值得。我看不出自己以後要做什麼，也不曉得大學會怎樣幫我指點迷津，而我卻在花銷父母一生的積蓄。所以我決定退學，並且相信沒有做錯。一開始非常嚇人，但回憶起來，這卻是我一生中作的最好的決定之一。從我退學的那一刻起，我可以停止一切不感興趣的必修課，開始旁聽那些有意思得多的課。 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 five-cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven 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.

事情並不那麼美好。我沒有宿舍可住，睡在朋友房間的地上。爲了吃飯，我收集五分一個的舊可樂瓶，每個星期天晚上步行七英里到哈爾-克里什納廟裏改善一下一週的伙食。我喜歡這種生活方式。能夠遵循自己的好奇和直覺前行後來被證明是多麼的珍貴。讓我來給你們舉個例子吧。 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 sans-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.

當時的裏德大學提供可能是全國最好的書法指導。校園中每一張海報，抽屜上的每一張標籤，都是漂亮的手寫體。由於我已退學，不用修那些必修課，我決定選一門書法課上上。在這門課上，我學會了“serif”和"sans-serif"兩種字體、學會了怎樣在不同的字母組合中改變字間距、學會了怎樣寫出好的字來。這是一種科學無法捕捉的微妙，楚楚動人、充滿歷史底蘊和藝術性，我覺得自己被完全吸引了。

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, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.

當時我並不指望書法在以後的生活中能有什麼實用價值。但是，十年之後，我們在設計第一臺 Macintosh計算機時，它一下子浮現在我眼前。於是，我們把這些東西全都設計進了計算機中。這是第一臺有這麼漂亮的文字版式的計算機。要不是我當初在大學裏偶然選了這麼一門課，Macintosh計算機絕不會有那麼多種印刷字體或間距安排合理的字號。要不是Windows照搬了 Macintosh，個人電腦可能不會有這些字體和字號。

If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class and personals computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.

要不是退了學，我決不會碰巧選了這門書法課，個人電腦也可能不會有現在這些漂亮的版式了。 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--because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.

當然，我在大學裏不可能從這一點上看到它與將來的關係。十年之後再回頭看，兩者之間關係就非常、非常清楚了。你們同樣不可能從現在這個點上看到將來；只有回頭看時，纔會發現它們之間的關係。所以你必須相信，那些點點滴滴，會在你未來的生命裏，以某種方式串聯起來。你必須相信一些東西——你的勇氣、宿命、生活、因緣，隨便什麼——因爲相信這些點滴能夠一路連

接會給你帶來循從本覺的自信，它使你遠離平凡，變得與衆不同。

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 ten years, Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. We'd just released our finest creation, the Macintosh, a year earlier, and I'd 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, and 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 down, that I had dropped the baton as it was being

passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure and I even thought about running away from the Valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me. I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I'd been rejected but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over. 第二個故事是關於愛與失的。我很幸運，很早就發現自己喜歡做的事情。我二十歲的時候就和沃茨在父母的車庫裏開創了蘋果公司。我們工作得很努力，十年後，蘋果公司成長爲擁有四千名員工，價值二十億的大公司。我們剛剛推出了最好的創意，Macintosh操作系統，在這之前的一年，也就是我剛過三十歲，我被解僱了。你怎麼可能被一個親手創立的公司解僱？事情是這樣的，在公司成長期間，我僱傭了一個我們認爲非常聰明，可以和我一起經營公司的人。一年後，我們對公司未來的看法產生分歧，董事會站在了他的一邊。於是，在我三十歲的時候，我出局了，很公開地出局了。我整個成年生活的焦點沒了，這很要命。一開始的幾個月我真的不知道該幹什麼。我覺得我讓公司的前一代創建者們失望了，我把傳給我的權杖給弄丟了。我與戴維德·帕珂德和鮑勃·諾埃斯見面，試圖爲這徹頭徹尾的失敗道歉。我敗得如此之慘以至於我想要逃離硅谷。但有個東西在慢慢地叫醒我：我還愛着我從事的行業。這次失敗一點兒都沒有改變這一點。我被逐了，但我仍愛着我的事業。我決定重新開始。

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. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods in my life. 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. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, "Toy Story," and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

當時我沒有看出來，但事實證明“被蘋果開除”是發生在我身上最好的事。成功的重擔被重新起步的輕鬆替代，對任何事情都不再特別看重，這讓我感覺如此自由，進入一生中最有創造力的階段。接下來的五年，我創立了一個叫NeXT的公司，接着又建立了Pixar，然後與後來成爲我妻子的女人相愛。Pixar出品了世界第一個電腦動畫電影：“玩具總動員”，現在它已經是世界最成功的動畫製作工作室了。

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

在一系列的成功運轉後，蘋果收購了NeXT，我又回到了蘋果。我們在NeXT開發的技術在蘋果的復興中起了核心作用，另外勞琳和我組建了一個幸福的家庭。

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was

awful-tasting medicine but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced 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 work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it, and like any great relationship it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don't settle.

我非常確信，如果我沒有被蘋果炒掉，這些就都不會發生。這個藥的味道太糟了，但是我想病人需要它。有些時候，生活會給你迎頭一棒。不要喪失信心。我確信唯一讓我一路走下來的是我對自己所做事情的熱愛。你必須去找你熱愛的東西，對工作如此，對你的愛人也是這樣的。工作會佔據你生命中很大的一部分，你只有相信自己做的是偉大的工作，你才能怡然自得。如果你還沒有找到，那麼就繼續找，不要停。全心全意地找，當你找到時，你會知道的。就像任何真誠的關係，隨着時間的流逝，只會越來越緊密。所以繼續找，不要停。

My third story is about death. 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." 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?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever

encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the

篇二：喬布斯在斯坦福大學的勵志演講

喬布斯斯坦福大學的勵志演講

我今天很榮幸能和你們一起參加畢業典禮，斯坦福大學是世界上最好的大學之一。我從來沒有從大學中畢業。說實話,今天也許是在我的生命中離大學畢業最近的一天了。今天我想向你們講述我生活中的三個故事。不是什麼大不了的事情,只是三個故事

而已第一個故事是關於如何把生命中的點點滴滴串連起來。我在Reed大學讀了六個月之後就退學了, 但是在十八個月以後——我真正的作出退學決定之前,我還經常去學校。我爲什麼要退學呢？故事從我出生的時候講起。我的親生母親是一個年輕的,沒有結婚的大學畢業生。她決定讓別人收養我, 她十分想讓我被大學畢業生收養。所以在我出生的時候，她已經做好了一切的準備工作，能使得我被一個律師和他的妻子所收養。但是她沒有料到,當我出生之後,律師夫婦突然決定他們想要一個女孩。所以我的生養父母,他們還在我親生父母的觀察名單上,突然在半夜接到了一個電話:“我們現在這兒有一個不小心生出來的男嬰,你們想要他嗎？”他們回答道:“當然！”

但是我親生母親隨後發現，我的養母從來沒有上過大學，我的父親甚至從沒有讀過高中。她拒絕籤這個收養合同。只是在幾個月以後，我的父母答應她一定要讓我上大學，那個時候她才同意。在十七歲那年，我真的上了大學。但是我很愚蠢的.選擇了一個幾乎和你們斯坦福大學一樣貴的學校，我父母還處於藍領階層，他們幾乎把所有積蓄都花在了我的學費上面。在六個月後，我已經看不到其中的價值所在。我不知道我想要在生命中做什麼，我也不知道大學能幫助我找到怎樣

的答案。但是在這裏，我幾乎花光了我父母這一輩子的所有積蓄。所以我決定要退學，我覺得這是個正確的決定。不能否認,我當時確實非常的害怕，但是現在回頭看看，那的確是我這一生中最棒的一個決定。自我退學開始，我就可以不再去上那些無趣的必修課，而去旁聽那些更有意思的課程了。當然也不是真那麼浪漫，當時我連宿舍都沒有所以只能在朋友寢室打地鋪。我*收集可樂瓶子，每個五分來養活自己。每週日晚上，我都步行七裏地，到神廟去蹭一頓像樣的飯菜，我樂此不疲。我那些聽從自己的直覺和好奇心，而遇到的事後來都令我收穫頗豐。舉個例子說，那時候裏德學院開設了，或許是全美最好的書法課，大學裏每張海報上，每個抽屜的標籤上，全都是漂亮的美術字。因爲我退學了不必去上正規的課程，所以我決定去練練書法。我學到了有襯線體和無襯線體，懂得了如何把握詞間距，以及如何做出漂亮的版式。優雅、滄桑和科學無法描述的那種藝術氣息。真是妙不可言。

這些東西無論怎麼看，都算不上對未來有實際用處。但是十年之後，當我們設計第一臺蘋果電腦的時候，卻全都用上了。全都融入了蘋果電腦的設計當中。那是第一臺使用藝術字的電腦。如果我當時在大學沒有學習這門課程，蘋果電腦就不會有這麼豐富的字體和比例勻稱的字體。因爲微軟只知道山寨蘋果那很可能世上所有電腦都不會有那些漂亮字體了。要是我沒有退學，我就不會選修書法，那麼，各種個人電腦就不會有如今的精美字體了。當然，我當時不可能預知這一件事之間的“因”和“果”，只有回過頭來看，才一目瞭然。再次強

調，沒人可以未卜先知。事事間的“因”“果”往往只在回首時顯現。你得相信，“因”和“果”會在未來生活中聯繫起來。人總要有些信仰才行，直覺也好，命運也罷，因果輪迴，不管什麼，去相信“因”與“果”的聯繫。會給你信心去跟從自己的意願，哪怕離經叛道也絕不止步。只有這樣，纔能有所成。

我的第二個故事關於興趣與得失。 我很幸運，能在年輕時就找到興趣所在，二十歲的時候，就在父母的車庫裏開創了蘋果公司。我們非常努力，蘋果用了10年，從兩個窮小子和一個破車庫發展成了擁有四千多名僱員，市值過二十億的大公司。一年前，我們剛剛發佈了我們史上最棒的產品蘋果電腦。我也剛滿三十，然而之後我卻被公司炒魷魚了。怎麼會有人被自己創立的公司炒了呢？在蘋果的發展期，我們僱了一個我當時很看重的人物和我一起來管理公司。在最初一年中一切都很順利，但是後來我們對公司的未來發展產生了分歧，最終鬧翻了。而此時，董事會站在了他的一邊，我就在而立之年被當衆掃地出門。突然我人生的重心不見了，這對我是非常沉重的打擊。最初的幾個月裏，我不知所措，覺得自己無顏面對上一輩的企業家們。我沒有接好他們交給我的接力棒，我拜訪了David Packard和Bob Noyce。去向他們道歉自己搞砸了。

我的慘敗鬧得滿城風雨，我甚至都想幹脆離開硅谷一走了之，但我又漸漸意識到我對事業的熱愛沒有變，我的意外出局，並沒有動搖我的熱愛。雖然被拒絕，但是我心依舊，所以我決定從頭再來。我當時沒有感覺，但是回頭看被蘋果炒掉其實是我一生中最有意義的事

情。成功的巨大壓力變成了新人接受挑戰的輕盈，不再受固有思維羈絆，我輕盈地進入了我人生中最具創造力的時期。在接下來的五年裏，我創立了一個名叫NeXT的公司和一個叫皮克斯的公司。還與一位傑出的女性相知相愛。她後來成爲我的妻子。皮克斯後來製作了世界上第一個用電腦製作的動畫電影——玩具總動員。現在已經是世界上最成功的動畫工作室。

峯迴路轉，蘋果收購了NeXT，我也迴歸了蘋果。而且正是我們在NeXT研發的技術帶來了蘋果的復興。我還和我的太太組建了美滿的家庭。我很肯定，這一切反而都要歸功於當年我被蘋果開除的經歷。所以說良藥苦口利於病。有些時候，生活會給你迎頭一擊，不要灰心喪氣，我堅信，唯一可以讓我堅持下去的就是我對自己事業的熱愛。你必須去尋找自己所愛，無論是工作還是愛情都是如此。工作是生活中很主要的部分。要真正獲得滿足感就必須做你相信是有價值的工作。要做有價值的事業，你就必須熱愛你做的事業，如果你還沒找到，千萬不好放棄，要繼續尋找。只要傾聽你的心聲。當你真的發現時，你就會感到就像任何偉大的感情關係一樣，歲月的更迭只會讓這份感情愈發深刻。所以千萬不要放棄，要繼續尋找。 第三個故事是關於死亡的。十七歲時，我讀到過一句話，假如你把每一天都當做最後一天來過，那麼總有一天你是對的。我將這句話銘記心中，之後的33年中，每天早晨我都會對着鏡子問自己，假如今天就是我生命中的最後一天，我會做些什麼，還會這麼過嗎？如果連續幾天我的回答都是“不”，我就知道，我需要改變了。提醒自己

人的生命有限，令我一生都受益匪淺，令我能明智地在人生重大問題上作出抉擇。因爲一切的一切，一切追求，一切榮耀，一切惶恐，一切挫折，在死亡面前，都會顯得微不足道。剩下的纔是最重要的事情。記住自己總會死去，是避免自己被種種擔心所羈絆的最好方法。既然將一無所有，還有什麼理由違背自己的意願。

篇三：喬布斯演講稿

So, three things: a widescreen iPod with touch controls; a revolutionary mobile phone; and a breakthrough Internet communications device. An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator. An iPod, a phone … are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.

Yes, I bet you must have got which entrepreneur I’m going to introduce today. He is the father of the iphone and a revolutionary of the electronics industry Steven Jobs who are born to put a dent in the universe.

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, California, where he was adopted by his foster mother. In 1972, Jobs graduated from Homestead High School and enrolled in Reed College. Owing a deep- interest in technology, he took up a job as a leading manufacturer of video games. When Jobs was 19 years old, he dropped out from the university , and after that he always researched the computer with his friend Wozniak who had the same interest with him. In 1976, they founded Apple Computer in the Jobs family garage. The first computer was sold for $uraged by the success of their first computer, on the fool day in 1976, they signed a contract and decided to found a computer company. At the beginning, everything went well e the appearance of IBM’s personal computer attacked them a lot, Jobs had no choice but to leave the company and founded the Next computer company.

In 1996, Jobs was famous for the success of the computer animated film—Toy Story. At the same time, the Apple Company was faced with the bust-up risk. In 1997, Jobs returned as Apple CEO. He reformed the company thoroughly and cooperate with Microsoft, Jobs became the cover person of Times again.

In 1998, Apple launched iMac, which was the best -selling personal computer in America. In 1999, Apple launched iBook、G4 and iMac DV. And just as expected, all of them made a huge impact. In 2001, the music industry forever changed with the iPod, iTunes followed. Billions of songs were downloaded. In2007, Jobs captures the world’s attention again with the iPhone. They made an app for everything. In 2010, Jobs launched his latest creation— iPad , which was the fast-selling technological device ever. Jobs leads Apple create one and another miracle.

But unfortunately in 2004, Jobs was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his pancreas. As a result, Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011. On October 5, 2011, Jobs passed away. Like Jobs many entrepreneurs have their own entrepreneurship they use their talents to find business opportunities which are not discovered by normal people. So now let me give you a brief conclusion about Jobs entrepreneurship.

1. bravery

The capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks. There is no such a thing as a free lunch. There is a chance in front of you with some uncertain things together. If you want to be successful, you should make a choice face the risks or to give up? Only when you take the challenge can you gain access to success.

2. Creativity

You catch peoples’ eyes if you create something new example, iphone from generation to generation , which attract a lot of customers to buy their new product.

3. cooperation

One tree does not make a forest. Teamwork can make a company run in a stale pace, showing great power.

4. devotion

Being devoted can help the company become more powerful. A company with a warm and aspirant environment will work efficiently.

5. passion for study

If three of us are walking together, at least one of the other two is good enough to be my teacher. Being willing to learn from others can help combine the enterprise with many advantages.

6. Integrity

No one wants to cooperate with the company that won’t obey the contract. No one wants to buy the product from the without honesty.

篇四：喬布斯演講稿

喬布斯05年斯坦福大學畢業典禮上的演講

2009-06-07 16:52:36

【喬布斯05年斯坦福大學畢業典禮上的演講】

Steve Jobs: Commencement Address at Stanford University

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish." 求知若飢，虛心若愚

2 June 2005, Palo Alto, CA

史蒂夫·喬布斯(Steve Paul Jobs)蘋果電腦公司和皮克斯動畫公司(Pixar)首席執行官。以下是Steve Jobs在2005年6月12日斯坦福大學畢業典禮上的演講。

Thank you.

I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college, and 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.謝謝大家。

今天，有榮幸來到各位從世界上最好的學校之一畢業的畢業典禮上。我從來沒從大學畢業。說實話，這是我離大學畢業最近的一刻。今天，我只說三個故事，不談大道理，三個故事就好。

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first six 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 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've got an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said, "Of course." My biological mother found out later 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 go to college. This was the start in my life.

第一個故事，是關於人生中的點點滴滴怎麼串連在一起。我在裏德學院

(Reedcollege)待了六個月就辦休學了。到我退學前，一共休學了十八個月。那麼，我爲什麼休學？

這得從我出生前講起。我的親生母親當時是個研究生，年輕未婚媽媽，她決定讓別人收養我。她強烈覺得應該讓有大學畢業的人收養我，所以我出生時，她就準備讓我被一對律師夫婦收養。但是這對夫妻到了最後一刻反悔了，他們想收養女孩。

所以在等待收養名單上的一對夫妻，我的養父母，在一天半夜裏接到一通電話，問他們有一名意外出生的男孩，你們要認養他嗎？而他們的回答是當然要。後來，我的生母發現，我現在的媽媽從來沒有大學畢業，我現在的爸爸則連高中畢業也沒有。她拒絕在認養文件上做最後簽字。直到幾個月後，我的養父母同意將來一定會讓我上大學，她才軟化態度。

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.

十七年後，我上大學了。但是當時我無知選了一所學費幾乎跟史丹佛一樣貴的大學，我那工人階級的父母所有積蓄都花在我的學費上。六個月後，我看不出念這

個書的價值何在。那時候，我不知道這輩子要幹什麼，也不知道念大學能對我有什麼幫助，而且我爲了念這個書，花光了我父母這輩子的所有積蓄。

So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out okay. 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 far more interesting.

所以我決定休學，相信船到橋頭自然直。當時這個決定看來相當可怕，可是現在看來，那是我這輩子做過最好的決定之一。當我休學之後，我再也不用上我沒興趣的必修課，把時間拿去聽那些我有興趣的課。

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 five cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven 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.

這一點也不浪漫。我沒有宿舍，所以我睡在友人家裏的地板上，靠着回收可樂空罐的五先令退費買吃的，每個星期天晚上得走七哩的路繞過大半個鎮去印度教的HareKrishna神廟吃頓好料。我喜歡HareKrishna神廟的好料。追尋我的好奇與直覺，我所駐足的大部分事物，後來看來都成了無價之寶。舉例來說：當時裏德學院有着大概是全國最好的書法指導。在整個校園內的每一張海報上，每個抽屜的標籤上，都是美麗的手寫字。因爲我休學了，可以不照正常選課程序來，所以我跑去學書法。我學了serif與sanserif字體，學到在不同字母組合間變更字間距，學到活版印刷偉大的地方。書法的美好、歷史感與藝術感是科學所無法捕捉的，我覺得那很迷人。

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, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that 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 10 years later.