Stanford Commencement Speech (2005) Quotes

Context

This line was spoken by Steve Jobs in his Stanford Commencement speech in June, 2005. 


In Jobs' Stanford Commencement speech, he basically told three stories.



Story One: He speaks about how he took a calligraphy class when he attended Reed College (which he later dropped out of), which helped him design the Mac Computer. 


Story Two: He speaks about love and loss, and how he was fired from Apple at age 30, despite being one of the co-founders. But hey, he still loved computer stuff, so he continued to work hard, created Pixar, and you know the rest—Toy Story came out, and eventually Jobs was able to return to Apple.

Story Three: He talks about death, and how he was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer in 2004. He then goes on to talk about how precious life is, and how important it is to follow your dreams.

Story Three is where we get our quote. Basically, following your heart and intuition is important because everyone's time is limited.

Smart dude, right there. 


Where you've heard it

You probably haven't heard this unless you were watching the 2005 Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement speech. But if you have heard it by any chance, you probably saw it after you searched "motivational quotes" on Google. Come on, we've all been there.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Good for you if you're able to pull this quote out of thin air to rejuvenate someone's morale, but make sure you put some gusto into it, or you're gonna sound like you read it under a Snapple lid.