6 ms·

Steve Jobs - quotes

26 points by zizou 19y ago

__ 19y ago
Good stuff: "When you're young, you look at television and think, There's a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It's the truth."
daniel-cussen 19y ago
I hope someday I too can say, "Because I'm the CEO, and I think it can be done. * Time, 2005-10-24 * On why Jobs chose to override engineers who thought the iMac wasn't feasible."
- mynameishere 19y ago
  He probably should have fired those engineers immediately. "Nope, sir. Can't do it. Can't be done. Can't put a computer in a plastic case with the monitor."
  - randallsquared 19y ago
    I suspect we're missing some context. :)
dcurtis 19y ago
It seems simple, but this quote probably had the most profound impact on my life, more than any other quote I've ever read/heard: "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." Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005 I still do that every morning.
- randallsquared 19y ago
  I've always found the idea of living each day[1] as though it were my last to be odd. If I knew that a day was going to be my last, there are potentially fun or useful activities to choose from which carry a very high risk. That day would be the day to do things that have a significant chance of killing you any time you do them... and by "significant", I mean greater than five percent, say, not things like skydiving. [1] Some versions of this idea use hour, and I've heard someone say "second". How do you live each second as if it were your last? No one who does this would last long; there's no point in doing most of what we do if we're going to die in the next second, right? But maybe people who say "hour" or "second" are just betraying that they don't really mean it.
  - daniel-cussen 19y ago
    Yeah, wouldn't blowing your savings on hard drugs be the rational thing to do in this situation? I agree the saying is kind of weird.
  - eru 19y ago
    Perhaps you should do the opposite: Live every day as if it was your _first_.
phony_identity 19y ago
Those product design quotes are fucking great. Read 'em.
ivankirigin 19y ago
"I wish him [Bill Gates] the best, I really do. I just think he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."
raghus 19y ago
Here's that Stanford speech quoted in the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
deleted 19y ago
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bayareaguy 19y ago
You've baked a really lovely cake, but then you've used dog shit for frosting. I'm sure they are all authentic but that's one I can really imagine him saying.

26 points by zizou 19y ago

__ 19y ago

Good stuff: "When you're young, you look at television and think, There's a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It's the truth."

daniel-cussen 19y ago

I hope someday I too can say, "Because I'm the CEO, and I think it can be done. * Time, 2005-10-24 * On why Jobs chose to override engineers who thought the iMac wasn't feasible."

mynameishere 19y ago
He probably should have fired those engineers immediately. "Nope, sir. Can't do it. Can't be done. Can't put a computer in a plastic case with the monitor."
- randallsquared 19y ago
  I suspect we're missing some context. :)

dcurtis 19y ago

It seems simple, but this quote probably had the most profound impact on my life, more than any other quote I've ever read/heard: "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." Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005 I still do that every morning.

randallsquared 19y ago
I've always found the idea of living each day[1] as though it were my last to be odd. If I knew that a day was going to be my last, there are potentially fun or useful activities to choose from which carry a very high risk. That day would be the day to do things that have a significant chance of killing you any time you do them... and by "significant", I mean greater than five percent, say, not things like skydiving. [1] Some versions of this idea use hour, and I've heard someone say "second". How do you live each second as if it were your last? No one who does this would last long; there's no point in doing most of what we do if we're going to die in the next second, right? But maybe people who say "hour" or "second" are just betraying that they don't really mean it.
- daniel-cussen 19y ago
  Yeah, wouldn't blowing your savings on hard drugs be the rational thing to do in this situation? I agree the saying is kind of weird.
- eru 19y ago
  Perhaps you should do the opposite: Live every day as if it was your _first_.

phony_identity 19y ago

Those product design quotes are fucking great. Read 'em.

ivankirigin 19y ago

"I wish him [Bill Gates] the best, I really do. I just think he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."

raghus 19y ago

Here's that Stanford speech quoted in the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

deleted 19y ago

[deleted]

bayareaguy 19y ago

You've baked a really lovely cake, but then you've used dog shit for frosting. I'm sure they are all authentic but that's one I can really imagine him saying.