I am honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

我今天很榮幸能和你們一起參加這所世界上最好的一座大學的畢業典禮。

Truth be told I never graduated from college, and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

說實話我從來沒從大學畢業過，今天是我離大學畢業最近的一天了。

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it.

今天我想向你們講述我生活中的三個故事，就這樣。

No big deal. Just three stories.

不談大道理，三個故事就好。

The first story is about connecting the dots.

第一個故事是關於人生中的點點滴滴怎麼串連在一起。

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.

我在里德學院讀了六個月之後就退學了，但之後仍作為旁聽生混了十八個月後才最終離開。

So why did I drop out?

我為什麼要退學呢？

It started before I was born.

故事從我出生的時候講起。

My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

我的親生母親是一個年輕的且沒有結婚的大學畢業生，她決定把我送去收養。

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.

她十分想讓我被大學畢業生收養，在我出生時她已經做好一切準備，能使得我被一個律師家庭所收養。

Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

但是在最後一刻，律師夫婦突然決定想要一個女孩。

So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We got an unexpected baby boy. Do you want him?"

所以在候選名單上，我的養父母突然在半夜接到了一個電話：「我們這兒突然有一個男嬰，你們想要他嗎？」

They said: "Of course." My biological mother found out later,

他們回答：「當然要。」 但是我親生母親隨後發現，

that my mother had never graduated from college, and that my father had never graduated from high school.

我的養母從來沒有上過大學，我的養父甚至從沒有讀過高中。

She refused to sign the final adoption papers.

她拒絕簽這個收養合約。

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college.

但在幾個月以後，她才軟化同意，當我的父母答應一定要讓我上大學時。

This was the start in my life.

我的人生從這裡起航。

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college

在十七歲那年，我真的上了大學，但是我很愚蠢地選擇了一個

that was almost as expensive as Stanford,

幾乎和你們 Stanford 一樣貴的學校，

and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition.

我藍領階層的父母所有的存款被拿來花在大學學費上。

After six months, I couldn't see the value in it.

在六個月後，我看不出讀大學的價值。

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life

我不知道我真正想要做什麼

and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.

我也不知道大學能怎樣幫助我找到答案。

And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.

我現在卻在這裡花光了父母花一輩子存的積蓄。

So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.

所以我決定退學，相信每件事情總會有它的解決辦法。

It was pretty scary at the time,

我當時確實非常害怕，

but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

但是回頭想想那的確是我這一生中最棒的決定。

The minute I dropped out

在我做出退學決定的那一刻，

I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me,

我向那些我毫無興趣的課程說再見，

and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.

然後我可以開始去修那些看起來有意思得多的課程。

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room,

這一點都不浪漫，我居無定所，

so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms,

所以我只能睡在朋友家的地板上，

I returned coke bottles for the 5 cent deposits to buy food with,

我去撿可以換五美分的可樂罐僅僅為了填飽肚子，

and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night

每個星期天的晚上，我走七英里的路程

to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.

只為能吃頓像樣的飯菜。

I loved it.

我樂此不疲。

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition

我跟隨好奇心和直覺所做的事情

turned out to be priceless later on.

最後證明是無價之寶。

Let me give you one example: Reed College at that

讓我給你們舉一個例子吧，里德學院

time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.

在當時提供也許是全美最好的書法課。

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer,

在這個大學裡面的每個海報、每個抽屜的標籤上面，

was beautifully hand calligraphed.

全都是漂亮的美術字。

Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes,

因為我退學了不必去上正規的課程，

I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this.

所以我決定去參加這個課程去學學怎樣寫出漂亮的美術字。

I learned about serif and san serif typefaces,

我學到襯線和無襯線字體，

about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations,

怎麼樣在不同的字母組合間改變字的間距，

about what makes great typography great.

以及如何做出漂亮的版式。

It was beautiful, historical,

書法裡所蘊含的那種美妙，字體上所賦予歷史感

artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture,

和藝術精妙是科學永遠不能捕捉到的，

and I found it fascinating.

我發現那實在是太迷人了。

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.

當時看起來這些東西好像一無是處好像都沒有什麼實際應用的可能

But ten years later,

但是十年之後，

when we were designing the first Macintosh computer,

當我們設計第一台蘋果電腦的時候，

it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac.

就不是那樣了，我把當時我學的那些東西全都設計進去了。

It was the first computer with beautiful typography.

那是第一台使用了漂亮的印刷字體的電腦。

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college,

如果我當時在大學沒有學習這門課程，

the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces

蘋果就不會有這麼多豐富的字體

or proportionally spaced fonts.

以及賞心悅目的字體間距。

And since Windows just copied the Mac,

而因為微軟基本上抄襲了蘋果，

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

它的個人電腦也不會有現在這麼漂亮的字型

If I had never dropped out,

如果我沒有退學，

I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class,

我也不會痴迷於這個美術課程，

and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.

然後個人電腦也不會有如此美麗的字體。

Of course it was impossible to connect

當然我在大學的時候

the dots looking forward when I was in college.

還不可能預先把點點滴滴串聯在一起。

But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

只有當我回首往事的時候才會明白。

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward;

再次說明的是，你不可能未卜先知。

you can only connect them looking backwards.

你只能在回顧時才明白這些是如何串起來。

So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

所以你必須相信你現在所體會的在將來多少會聯繫在一塊。

You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

你必須相信某些東西你的直覺也好，命運也好，隨便都可以。

Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart.

相信這些點會連在一起給你信心並追逐你的心。

Even when it leads you off the well worn path, and that will make all the difference.

即使他引導到疲憊的道路，他也會讓事情有所不同。

My second story is about love and loss.

我的第二個故事是關於愛和失去。

I was lucky I found what I loved to do early in life.

我很幸運 因為在很早的時候我就找到了我所鍾愛的東西。

Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20.

二十歲的時候沃茨和我就在父母的車庫裡面開創了蘋果公司。

We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown

我們工作得很努力十年後這個公司就發展成

from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees.

從那兩個車庫中的窮小子到超過四千名的僱員價值超過二十億的公司。

We just released our finest creation the Macintosh

我們剛剛發布了最好的產品那就是蘋果電腦

a year earlier, and I just turned 30.

在公司成立的第九年，我也快到三十歲。

And then I got fired.

這時我被公司炒了魷魚。

How can you get fired from a company you started?

怎麼可能被自己創立的公司炒了魷魚呢？

Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought

在蘋果快速成長的時候我們僱用了

was very talented to run the company with me,

一個很有天分的傢伙和我一起管理這個公司，

and for the first year or so things went well.

在最初的幾年裡公司運轉得很好。

But then our visions of the future began

但是後來我們對未來的看法

to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.

發生了分歧，我們吵了起來。

When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him.

而這個時候，董事會站在了他的那一邊。

So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out.

所以在我三十歲的時候我在眾目睽睽下被開除了。

What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone,

而立之年我生命的全部支柱離自己遠去，

and it was devastating.

這是一場毀滅性的打擊。

I really didn't know what to do for a few months.

最初的幾個月裡，我不知所措。

I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs

我覺得我很令上一代的創業家們失望

down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me.

我把他們交給我的接力棒弄丟了。

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce

我和戴維·帕卡德和鮑勃·諾伊斯見面

and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

為我的糟糕表現向他們道歉。

I was a very public failure,

我成了典型的失敗案例，

and I even thought about running away from the valley.

甚至想逃離矽谷。

But something slowly began to dawn on me. I still loved what I did.

但是 我看到了一個希望，因為我仍然熱愛著我所從事的工作。

The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit.

儘管我被蘋果公司開除了卻從來沒有改變過我的想法。

I had been rejected, but I was still in love.

也就是說雖然我離開了公司但對我所喜愛的事業熱情不減。

And so I decided to start over.

我決定從頭再來。

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from

我當時沒有察覺，但是事後證明

Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

被蘋果公司開除是我這輩子裡發生的最奇妙的事情。

The heaviness of being successful was

成功的沉重

replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again,

被鳳凰涅槃的輕盈所代替，

less sure about everything.

沒有比這更確定的事情了。

It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

它讓我輕裝上陣，我由此進入了我生命中最有創造力的時刻。

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT,

在接下來的五年裡，我創立了一個名叫NeXT的公司。

another company named Pixar,

還有一個叫皮克斯的公司，

and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

同時與一位美麗的女人共浴愛河，她後來成為了我的妻子。

Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature

皮克斯製作了世界上第一個用電腦製作的

film, Toy Story,

動畫電影，玩具總動員，

and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

現在是世界上最成功的動畫工作室。

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT.

後來有個驚人的轉折，蘋果收購了NeXT。

And I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at

然後我又回到了蘋果公司，我們在NeXT發展的技術

NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance.

在蘋果今天的複興之中發揮了關鍵的作用。

And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

我還和勞倫斯一起建立幸福美滿的家庭。

I'm pretty sure none of this would

我可以非常肯定

have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple.

如果我不被蘋果開除，這其中一件事情也不會發生的。

It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

良藥苦口 ，但是我想病人需要這個藥。

Sometimes life's gonna hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.

有些時候生活會給你當頭棒喝，不要失去信仰。

I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved

我很清楚唯一使我一直走下去的，就是做我無比鍾愛的事情。

what I did. You've got to find what you love.

你需要去找到你所愛的東西。

And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

這是一條適合於工作和愛情的信條。

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life,

你的工作將佔據生活中很大的一部分，

and the only way to be truly satisfied

你只有相信自己所做的是偉大的工作

is to do what you believe is great work.

你才能怡然自得。

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

而偉大的工作就是你所熱愛的。

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. And don't settle.

如果你現在還沒有找到，那麼繼續找，不要停下來。

As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

只要全心全意去找 ，在你找到的時候，你的心會告訴你的。

And, like any great relationship,

就像任何真誠的關係，

it just gets better and better as the years roll on.

只會隨著歲月的流逝而變得越來越緊密。

So keep looking. Don't settle.

所以繼續找，不要停下來。

My third story is about death.

我的第三個故事是關於死亡的。

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like:

當我十七歲的時候，我讀到了一句話：

"If you live each day as if it was your last,

如果你把每一天都當做生命中最後一天去過，

someday you'll most certainly be right."

那麼有一天，你會發現你是正確的。

It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years,

這句話給我留下了很深的印象，從那以後又過了三十三年，

I have looked in the mirror every morning

每天早晨我都會對著鏡子問自己

and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life,

如果今天是我生命中的最後一天，

would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

你會不會完成你今天想做的事情呢？

And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row,

當答案連續是不的時候

I know I need to change something.

我知道自己需要改變某些事情了。

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important

記住你即將死去是我一生中最重要的箴言

tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

它幫我指明了生命中重要的選擇。

Because almost everything all external expectations, all pride,

幾乎所有的事情，包括所有的榮譽、所有的驕傲，

all fear of embarrassment or failure -

所有的恐懼和失敗

these things just fall away in the face of death,

這些在死亡面前都會消失

leaving only what is truly important.

我看到的是那些留下的真正重要的東西。

Remembering that you are going to die is the best

記住你即將死去

way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

能讓你不再覺得自己有東西可以失去。

You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

你已經一無所有，你沒有理由不去聆聽你內心的呼喚。

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.

大概一年以前我被診斷出癌症。

I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning,

我在早晨七點半做了一個檢查，

and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.

上面清楚顯示 我的胰腺上有個腫瘤。

I didn't even know what a pancreas was.

我當時都不知道胰腺是什麼東西。

The doctors told me this was almost

醫生告訴我

certainly a type of cancer that is incurable,

那很可能是一種無法治癒的癌症

and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.

我的生命只有三到六個月的時間

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order,

我的醫生讓我回家然後安排好自己的事情

which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

這也是醫生對所有臨終病人的囑咐。

It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought

這意味著要把

you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.

未來十年你對你小孩說的話在幾個月裡說完。

It means to make sure everything is buttoned

意味著把每件事情都安排好

up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.

讓你的家人盡可能輕鬆的生活。

It means to say your goodbyes.

意味著你要說再見了。

I lived with that diagnosis all day.

我整天都在想著那個診斷書。

Later that evening I had a biopsy,

有一天晚上我做了一個切片檢查，

where they stuck an endoscope down my throat,

醫生將一個內窺鏡從我的喉嚨伸進去

through my stomach and into my intestines,

通過我的胃然後進入腸道

put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.

用一根針在我的腫瘤上取了幾個細胞。

I was sedated, but my wife, who was there,

我當時是被麻醉的，但是我的妻子在那裡

told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope

她後來告訴我，當醫生在顯微鏡下觀察這些細胞的時候

the doctors started crying because it turned out to be

他們開始尖叫，因為這些細胞

a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.

是一種罕見的並可以治癒的胰腺癌的細胞。

I had the surgery and thankfully I'm fine now.

我接受了這個手術，現在我痊癒了。

This was the closest I've been to facing death,

那是我最接近死亡的時候

and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades.

我真的不希望以後還能如此接近它

Having lived through it,

與死神擦肩而過之後

I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when

我可以更肯定地說

death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

死亡對我來說不只是書本上的概念

No one wants to die.

沒有人願意死。

Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.

即使人們想上天堂，人們也不會為了去那里而死。

And yet death is the destination we all share.

我們每個人都會面臨死亡。

No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be,

從來沒有人能夠逃脫它，而這也是必經的過程

because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.

因為死亡就是生命中最好的一個發明。

It is Life's change agent.

它是生命更迭的媒介。

It clears out the old to make way for the new.

它將舊的清除以便給新的讓路。

Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now,

現在你們都很有活力，但是不久以後，

you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

你們都會變老然後慢慢死去。

Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true.

我很抱歉說得這麼誇張，但這都是事實。

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

你們的時間很有限，所以不要浪費在重複他人的生活上。

Don't be trapped by dogma which is living

不要被教條束縛

with the results of other people's thinking.

那意味著你將重複別人的生活。

Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner

不要被其他人喧囂的觀點掩飾住你內心。

voice. And most important,

還有最重要的是，

have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

你要有勇氣去聽從你直覺和心靈的呼喚。

They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

在某種程度上它們知道你要成為什麼樣的人。

Everything else is secondary.

其他的事情都是次要的。

When I was young,

當我年輕的時候，

there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog,

有一本非常棒的雜誌叫《全球目錄》。

which was one of the bibles of my generation.

它是我們那一代人的聖經之一。

It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here

雜誌的創辦人叫斯圖爾特·布蘭德

in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.

在離這裡不遠的Menlo Park編輯的 這本雜誌充滿了詩意。

This was in the late 1960's,

那是六十年代後期，

before personal computers and desktop publishing,

在個人電腦出現以前，

so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

所以這本書全部是用打字機、剪刀、還有偏光鏡製造的。

It was sort of like Google in paperback form,