"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. 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. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
He's right-- if you're about to die, there are no limitations. You can, for example, cook meth with one of your former students.
The problem is when you're not about to die. Then embarrassment and failure are real issues. You do have something to lose-- your life! Your friends, your house, your possessions, your family, so many things to lose.
If you're going to lose it all anyway, taking risks is not a big deal. If you're 20 something and have your whole life ahead of you, taking risks is a really big deal.
It just prolongs the inevitable. If the average life expectancy is 70 years or 200, it still doesn't matter much in regards to things left undone; on your death bed, you'll still regret not loving your children more, not having the courage to ask her out, not traveling, not working on your ideas, etc... Consider that some opportunities only happen once, and then pfff, they are gone forever. Most of use are full of regrets until the end, and growing organs in labs is only a small comfort.
The other dream of course is for us to become immortal, but that's magnitudes harder than growing a liver in a laboratory, not to mention that even if possible it would open up a huge can of worms in society, problems that are even harder to overcome than technical issues.
Also, for all the advancements medicine appears to have, remember that we aren't even able to cure cancer and HIV, we aren't able to cure Alzheimer, we are only able to keep asthmatics under control and my child's doctors weren't even able to tell me the reason for why my child had the Lyell's syndrome a month ago (thankfully he's fine now, but it did freak us out).
We aren't even able to solve the problem of freaking bacteria becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics, and should I mention we aren't even able to find a cure for the flu or for common cold?
So don't kid yourself. You are going to die, you probably won't get past 90 years and your children, your grand-children and everybody you know will die too.
For those who are late to the party, Breaking Bad is now available on Netflix streaming, in case you didn't cancel your subscription in moral outrage over Quikstergate.
As someone who runs a site to help those who are feeling depressed and runs it with what seems to be a genuine level of concern and caring for those the site intends to help, this seems like a really fucking bizarre comment to make.
If you haven't achieved anything, you haven't got anything to be proud of in the first place. You can't go backwards from step 1. I don't care when I lose at street fighter, or if my player rating sucks compared to my friends' - I'm not good at street fighter yet.
And believe me, if you think it's difficult to take risks now, at ~25, without children to feed and send to school, without a girlfriend who requires upkeep or friends with high-paying jobs who want to eat at Michelin restaurants... you're never going to get off the boat.
I'm not telling you how to live your life. Please, feel free to take ridiculous risks. Give up all your worldly possessions and move to the SF bay area. Start boring web 2.0 apps. Do a startup or whatever. Go to burning man. I'll be over here enjoying my nice, stable life.
While not conscious of the morbidity that really underlies it, that's been my personal way of looking at life for a long time. What is there really to lose?
After listening to his speech, hearing him say "Keep looking, don't settle", I quit my job and started out on my own. He din't just indirectly affect me through technology, he influenced me directly. Anyone could have said those words, it wouldn't have affected me in such a visceral manner, it had to be Steve. You have to win some ones respect first before you can say something to them.
The whole world had its head up its a$$ with regards to the smart phone market, and steve had to show us how its done. Strangely I now feel like how I did when I moved out of my parents home. I feel a huge sense of responsibility descending on us. Steve won't be there to show us anymore. We have to figure things out on our own.
I played that speech to my girlfriend last spring and she cried. Shortly after she decided to go back to school. I cried the first time I heard it myself.
I still remember being 18 (12 years ago already!), having just moved to a new city on my own, and the whole office of our web design company crowding around one of the power macs to watch his keynotes through the old quicktime streams. I was running 0S7 back then, and the iMac was still new and multicoloured, but you could feel that something big was happening.
I'm proud to say I'm an entrepreneur in part because of the example of pioneers like Steve.
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Me too, didn't expect it to get to me like that, a complete stranger, and all.... but none the less, a visionary and remarkable person who's left a huge mark on the world in which I work and live.
Despite getting voted down, I believe you meant "He will reform tech in heaven like he reformed it on earth." The downvoters might have thought you meant he left for a different company, and that you were being cynical.
Whatever the case may be, we lost a true visionary, and the entire world should grieve as a result. RIP Steve
I think he was probably downvoted for bringing religion into it. Since this is not the time or place for a very boring religious flamewar let's just leave it at that.
This is the first "celebrity" death in recent history that's really upset me :/
I feel like he really truly had a rare combination of drive, personality, and talent that is extremely rare, dare I say one of a kind? Our field owes him a great debt for pushing us forward, even when we didn't want to.
This is the second time a death of somebody I haven't met have upset me. The first time it was Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains.
I guess both Steve Jobs and Layne Staley have created beautiful work that inspired me.
Steve Jobs has inspired us all, through his business philosophy, through pushing the mobile landscape to where it is today, for changing the music industry as we know it, for his snappy turtle-necks, for the opportunities he has given his employees and developers on iOS.
The world lost one of the greatest business man of all time.
Indeed, Jobs will certainly be remembered. His initial founding of Apple might be dismissed as being in the right place at the right time, although it's harder to attribute the Mac to that. But in coming back to Apple when it was doing so poorly, and leading it back to enormous success -- that should secure his reputation for vision and leadership.
While everything you built wasn't necessarily for me, god damn if it wasn't brilliant. Everybody in the community really seemed to speak highly of you, I wish I would have had the chance to experience this in person.
The world will always, always love you, and love the impact that you made on it. Thank you for that.
He held out for one final launch. When I think about that, I cry. His passion kept him going, passion for work, passion for life, passion to make a difference.
Yeah, that's sort of what came to my mind. The 'S' in the iPhone 4S for me at least will mean Steve - buying one although I don't have any iDevice around.
Rest in peace and here is to hoping that cancer researchers around the world get all the inspiration they need - keep looking, don't settle.
You've made me tear up again, too. I thought I was well prepared for this day... I knew it was going to happen, realized we were getting close, but I wasn't ready. I'm sure he wasn't either. I'm sure he wasn't.
75 comments
[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 151 ms ] thread"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. 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. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
The problem is when you're not about to die. Then embarrassment and failure are real issues. You do have something to lose-- your life! Your friends, your house, your possessions, your family, so many things to lose.
If you're going to lose it all anyway, taking risks is not a big deal. If you're 20 something and have your whole life ahead of you, taking risks is a really big deal.
Rest in peace jobs, you will be missed.
The other dream of course is for us to become immortal, but that's magnitudes harder than growing a liver in a laboratory, not to mention that even if possible it would open up a huge can of worms in society, problems that are even harder to overcome than technical issues.
Also, for all the advancements medicine appears to have, remember that we aren't even able to cure cancer and HIV, we aren't able to cure Alzheimer, we are only able to keep asthmatics under control and my child's doctors weren't even able to tell me the reason for why my child had the Lyell's syndrome a month ago (thankfully he's fine now, but it did freak us out).
We aren't even able to solve the problem of freaking bacteria becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics, and should I mention we aren't even able to find a cure for the flu or for common cold?
So don't kid yourself. You are going to die, you probably won't get past 90 years and your children, your grand-children and everybody you know will die too.
And believe me, if you think it's difficult to take risks now, at ~25, without children to feed and send to school, without a girlfriend who requires upkeep or friends with high-paying jobs who want to eat at Michelin restaurants... you're never going to get off the boat.
Every journey begins with one step.
And at least 4 or 5 people care enough about it to respond to me, so i think your anger is a bit unfounded.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
Rest in Peace, Steve.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
The whole world had its head up its a$$ with regards to the smart phone market, and steve had to show us how its done. Strangely I now feel like how I did when I moved out of my parents home. I feel a huge sense of responsibility descending on us. Steve won't be there to show us anymore. We have to figure things out on our own.
I still remember being 18 (12 years ago already!), having just moved to a new city on my own, and the whole office of our web design company crowding around one of the power macs to watch his keynotes through the old quicktime streams. I was running 0S7 back then, and the iMac was still new and multicoloured, but you could feel that something big was happening.
I'm proud to say I'm an entrepreneur in part because of the example of pioneers like Steve.
Goodbye, sir. Thank you for changing my life.
I did not keep tabs on his current condition, but his passing makes me really sad.
RIP Steve!
Whatever the case may be, we lost a true visionary, and the entire world should grieve as a result. RIP Steve
The world has lost a unique and brilliant technology / business / design leader, the likes of which are few and far between.
Here is to a life of unrelenting pursuit of perfection.
Its not going to be quite the same now that I know "the Steve" is not in his Cupertino lair working his magic.
I feel like he really truly had a rare combination of drive, personality, and talent that is extremely rare, dare I say one of a kind? Our field owes him a great debt for pushing us forward, even when we didn't want to.
RIP Steve.
RIP Steve. We'll certainly miss the most important innovator of our times.
The world lost one of the greatest business man of all time.
RIP
It is sad. But his memory will endure.
While everything you built wasn't necessarily for me, god damn if it wasn't brilliant. Everybody in the community really seemed to speak highly of you, I wish I would have had the chance to experience this in person.
The world will always, always love you, and love the impact that you made on it. Thank you for that.
Rest in peace and here is to hoping that cancer researchers around the world get all the inspiration they need - keep looking, don't settle.
I'll be buying an iPhone 4 Steve this friday.
You've made me tear up again, too. I thought I was well prepared for this day... I knew it was going to happen, realized we were getting close, but I wasn't ready. I'm sure he wasn't either. I'm sure he wasn't.