史蒂夫·乔布斯 2005 年斯坦福大学毕业典礼演讲：英语精读讲义

This program is brought to you by Stanford University.

本节目由斯坦福大学为您呈现。

Please visit us at stanford.edu.

欢迎访问 stanford.edu。

Thank you.

谢谢。

I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement 文化背景

今天能在你们的毕业典礼上与你们相聚，我深感荣幸，

from one of the finest universities in the world.

这所学校是世界上最优秀的大学之一。

Truth be told, 短語搭配

说实话，

I never graduated from college,

我从来没有大学毕业，

and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. 語法

而这已经是我离大学毕业最近的一次了。

Today,

今天，

I want to tell you three stories from my life.

我想讲讲我人生中的三个故事。

That's it.

就这样。

No big deal.

没什么大不了的。

Just three stories.

就三个故事。

The first story is about connecting the dots. 習語

第一个故事，是关于如何把点连起来。

I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months, 短語動詞

我在里德学院读了六个月后退学了，

but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so 講解

但之后又以旁听生的身份待了大约十八个月，

before I really quit.

才真正离开。

So why did I drop out?

那我为什么退学呢？

It started before I was born.

这件事要从我出生前说起。

My biological mother was a young unwed graduate student,

我的生母是一位年轻的未婚研究生，

and she decided to put me up for adoption. 短語搭配

她决定把我送人收养。

She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates,

她非常坚持一点：收养我的人必须是大学毕业生，

so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth 短語搭配

所以一切都已经安排好了，我一出生就会被收养，

by a lawyer and his wife.

由一位律师和他的妻子收养。

Except that when I popped out, 用詞

结果就在我出生时，

they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. 短語搭配

他们在最后一刻决定，其实他们更想要一个女孩。

So my parents, who were on a waiting list,

于是，我后来的父母当时还在等候名单上，

got a call in the middle of the night asking,

半夜接到一个电话，问他们：

"We've got an unexpected baby boy.

“我们这里有个意外出生的男婴。

Do you want him?"

你们愿意要他吗？”

They said, "Of course."

他们说：“当然愿意。”

My biological mother found out later

后来我的生母发现，

that my mother had never graduated from college,

我的养母从来没有大学毕业，

and that my father had never graduated from high school.

而我的养父甚至没有高中毕业。

She refused to sign the final adoption papers.

她拒绝在最终的收养文件上签字。

She only relented a few months later 用詞

几个月后她才松口，

when my parents promised that I would go to college.

前提是我的养父母承诺将来会送我上大学。

This was the start in my life.

这就是我人生的起点。

And 17 years later, I did go to college.

17年后，我确实上了大学。

But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, 語法

但我天真地选了一所学费几乎和斯坦福一样贵的学校，

and all of my working-class parents' savings 用詞

我工薪阶层父母的全部积蓄

were being spent on my college tuition.

都花在了我的大学学费上。

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

六个月后，我看不出这件事有什么价值。

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

我完全不知道自己想拿人生做什么，

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

也不知道大学怎么帮我找到答案。

And here I was, spending all the money 表達脈絡

可我却在这里，花着

my parents had saved their entire life.

我父母一辈子攒下来的钱。

So I decided to drop out

所以我决定退学，

and trust that it would all work out okay. 短語動詞

并相信一切最终都会好起来。

It was pretty scary at the time,

当时这真的很吓人，

but looking back, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. 表達脈絡

但现在回头看，那是我做过的最好的决定之一。

The minute I dropped out, 語法

我一退学，

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

就可以不再上那些我毫无兴趣的必修课，

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

而开始去旁听那些看起来有趣得多的课程。

It wasn't all romantic. 語氣意圖

这并不全是浪漫的故事。

I didn't have a dorm room,

我没有宿舍房间，

so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms.

所以只能睡在朋友房间的地板上。

I returned Coke bottles for the 5-cent deposits to buy food with, 文化背景

我靠退可乐瓶换回 5 美分押金来买吃的，

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

每个星期天晚上，我都会走 7 英里的路穿过整座城，

to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna Temple. 文化背景

去哈瑞奎师那神庙吃上一周里唯一一顿像样的饭。

I loved it.

我很享受那段日子。

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

而很多我因为追随好奇心和直觉误打误撞遇上的东西，

turned out to be priceless later on. 短語搭配

后来都变得无比珍贵。

Let me give you one example. 表達脈絡

我举一个例子。

Reed College at that time offered

当时的里德学院

perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.

可能提供了全国最好的书法课程。

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

校园里每一张海报、每个抽屉上的每一张标签，

was beautifully hand calligraphed.

都是漂亮的手写书法。

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

因为我已经退学了，不用再修正常课程，

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

我就决定去上一门书法课，学学这是怎么写出来的。

I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, 文化背景

我学到了有衬线和无衬线字体，

about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations,

学到了不同字母组合之间的间距该如何变化，

about what makes great typography great. 語法

也学到了伟大的字体排印为什么伟大。

It was beautiful, historical,

那真是美丽而有历史感，

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

还有一种科学无法捕捉的艺术性，

and I found it fascinating.

我觉得它太迷人了。

None of this had even a hope 習語

这些东西当时看起来根本没有

of any practical application in my life.

在我的人生里有任何实际用途的希望。

But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer,

但十年后，当我们设计第一台 Macintosh 电脑时，

it all came back to me. 短語動詞

它们一下子全都回到了我的脑海里。

And we designed it all into the Mac.

我们把这一切都设计进了 Mac。

It was the first computer with beautiful typography.

它成了第一台拥有优美字体排印的电脑。

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

如果我当年在大学里没有去旁听那一门课，

the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. 文化背景

Mac 就不会有多种字体，也不会有按比例间距的字体。

And since Windows just copied the Mac,

而既然 Windows 只是照抄了 Mac，

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

很可能所有个人电脑都不会有这些。

If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class,

如果我当年没有退学，我就不会去旁听那门书法课，

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

个人电脑也许就不会拥有今天这样精妙的字体排印。

Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward 習語

当然，向前看时根本不可能把这些点连起来，

when I was in college,

当我还在大学里的时候，

but it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later.

但十年后回头看，这一切就非常非常清楚了。

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

再说一次，你无法预先把这些点连起来。

You can only connect them looking backwards.

你只能在回头看时把它们连起来。

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

所以你必须相信，这些点将来总会连成线。

You have to trust in something,

你必须相信某种东西，

your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever,

你的直觉、命运、人生、因果，随便什么都行，

because believing that the dots will connect down the road 習語

因为相信这些点终会在前方连起来，

will give you the confidence to follow your heart 習語

会给你信心去追随自己的内心，

even when it leads you off the well-worn path, 習語

即使它把你带离了人们走惯了的路，

and that will make all the difference. 短語搭配

而这将带来决定性的不同。

My second story is about love and loss.

我的第二个故事，是关于爱与失去。

I was lucky.

我很幸运。

I found what I loved to do early in life.

我很早就找到了自己热爱的事情。

Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage

Woz 和我在我父母家的车库里创办了 Apple。

when I was 20.

那时我 20 岁。

We worked hard,

我们拼命工作，

and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage 語法

10 年间，Apple 从车库里只有我们两个人，

into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees.

发展成一家拥有 4000 多名员工、价值 20 亿美元的公司。

We just released our finest creation, the Macintosh,

我们刚刚推出了自己最出色的作品，Macintosh，

a year earlier,

那是在一年前，

and I just turned 30.

而我刚满 30 岁。

And then I got fired. 語法

然后我被解雇了。

How can you get fired from a company you started?

你怎么会被自己亲手创办的公司解雇呢？

Well, as Apple grew, we hired someone who I thought was very talented

事情是这样的，随着 Apple 的成长，我们请来了一位我认为非常有才华的人，

to run the company with me.

和我一起管理公司。

And for the first year or so, things went well.

最开始一年左右，一切都很顺利。

But then our visions of the future began to diverge, 用詞

但后来，我们对未来的看法开始出现分歧，

and eventually we had a falling out. 習語

最终闹翻了。

When we did, our board of directors sided with him. 短語搭配

等到真的闹翻时，董事会站在了他那一边。

And so at 30, I was out, 用詞

所以到了 30 岁，我出局了，

and very publicly out.

而且是在众目睽睽之下出局。

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

我整个成年人生的重心突然消失了，

and it was devastating.

那真是毁灭性的打击。

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

有几个月时间，我真的不知道该做什么。

I felt that I'd let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down, 短語動詞

我觉得自己让上一代创业者失望了，

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

觉得接力棒传到我手里时，我却把它掉了。

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce

我去见了 David Packard 和 Bob Noyce，

and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. 用詞

想为自己把事情搞得这么糟而向他们道歉。

I was a very public failure,

我成了一个公开的失败者，

and I even thought about running away from the valley. 文化背景

我甚至想过逃离硅谷。

But something slowly began to dawn on me. 習語

但慢慢地，我开始意识到一件事。

I still loved what I did.

我依然热爱我所做的事。

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

在 Apple 发生的这一切丝毫没有改变这一点。

I'd been rejected, but I was still in love.

我被拒绝了，但我依然深爱着它。

And so I decided to start over. 短語動詞

所以我决定重新开始。

I didn't see it then,

当时我并没有看出来，

but it turned out that getting fired from Apple

但后来事实证明，被 Apple 解雇

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

是发生在我身上最好的事情。

The heaviness of being successful was replaced 表達脈絡

成功带来的沉重感，

by the lightness of being a beginner again,

被再次成为初学者的轻松感取代了，

less sure about everything.

对一切都没那么笃定了。

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

这让我得以进入人生中最有创造力的一段时期。

During the next 5 years, I started a company named NeXT,

接下来的 5 年里，我创办了一家叫 NeXT 的公司，

another company named Pixar,

又创办了一家叫 Pixar 的公司，

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

还爱上了一位了不起的女人，她后来成了我的妻子。

Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, 短語搭配

Pixar 后来制作出了世界上第一部全电脑动画长片，

Toy Story,

《玩具总动员》，

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

如今它已经是世界上最成功的动画工作室。

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, 短語搭配

在一个戏剧性的转折中，Apple 收购了 NeXT，

and I returned to Apple,

我也回到了 Apple，

and the technology we developed at NeXT

而我们在 NeXT 开发的技术，

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

正是 Apple 当下复兴的核心。

And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

此外，Laurene 和我还一起拥有了一个美好的家庭。

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened 語法

我几乎可以肯定，这一切都不会发生，

if I hadn't been fired from Apple.

如果我当初没有被 Apple 解雇。

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

那药尝起来很苦，但我想病人确实需要它。

sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. 習語

有时候，生活会拿砖头朝你头上砸过来。

Don't lose faith.

不要失去信念。

I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going 短語動詞

我深信，唯一支撑我继续走下去的，

was that I loved what I did.

就是我热爱自己所做的事。

You've got to find what you love, 用詞

你必须找到你所热爱的东西，

and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers. 語法

这一点对工作如此，对爱人也是如此。

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

你的工作将占据你生命中很大的一部分，

and the only way to be truly satisfied 語法

而获得真正满足的唯一方法，

is to do what you believe is great work.

就是去做你认为伟大的工作。

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

而做出伟大工作的唯一方法，就是热爱你所做的事。

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, 語氣意圖

如果你还没有找到，那就继续找，

and don't settle.

不要将就。

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

就像所有关乎内心的事情一样，等你找到时，你会知道的。

And like any great relationship,

就像任何一段伟大的关系一样，

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

随着岁月流逝，它只会变得越来越好。

So keep looking.

所以，继续寻找。

Don't settle.

不要将就。

My third story is about death.

我的第三个故事，是关于死亡。

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like, 短語搭配

我 17 岁时，读到过一句大意如下的话，

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

“如果你把每一天都当作生命中的最后一天来过，

someday you'll most certainly be right."

那么总有一天，你肯定会是对的。”

It made an impression on me, 短語搭配

这句话给我留下了深刻印象，

and since then, for the past 33 years,

从那以后，过去 33 年里，

I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself,

我每天早晨都会对着镜子问自己：

"If today were the last day of my life, 語法

“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天，

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

我还会想去做我今天将要做的事吗？”

And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, 短語搭配

而每当答案连续很多天都是“不”，

I know I need to change something.

我就知道自己需要做出一些改变了。

Remembering that I'll be dead soon 語法

记住自己很快就会死去，

is the most important tool I've ever encountered

是我遇到过的最重要的工具，

to help me make the big choices in life.

它能帮助我做出人生中的重大选择。

Because almost everything, all external

因为几乎所有东西，所有外在的

expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure,

期待，所有的自尊，所有对难堪或失败的恐惧，

these things just fall away in the face of death, 習語

在死亡面前都会消散，

leaving only what is truly important.

留下的只有真正重要的东西。

Remembering that you are going to die

记住你终将死去，

is the best way I know to avoid the trap 習語

是我所知道的避免陷入陷阱的最好方法，

of thinking you have something to lose.

这种陷阱就是以为你还有什么可失去的。

You are already naked. 習語

你本来就是赤裸裸的。

There is no reason not to follow your heart. 語法

没有理由不追随你的内心。

About a year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. 短語搭配

大约一年前，我被诊断出癌症。

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

那天早上 7 点半，我做了扫描检查，

and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.

检查清楚地显示，我的胰腺上长了个肿瘤。

I didn't even know what a pancreas was.

我那时甚至都不知道胰腺是什么。

The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable 短語搭配

医生告诉我，这几乎肯定是一种无法治愈的癌症，

and that I should expect to live no longer than 3 to 6 months. 短語搭配

我最多只能再活 3 到 6 个月。

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

医生建议我回家，把该安排的事情都安排好，

which is doctor's code for prepare to die. 用詞

这是医生委婉地在说：准备面对死亡。

It means to try and tell your kids everything,

这意味着，你要尽量把想对孩子说的一切都说完，

you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them,

那些你原以为未来 10 年还有时间说的话，

in just a few months.

现在要在短短几个月里说完。

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up, 習語

这意味着，你要确保一切都处理妥当，

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

让家人将来尽可能轻松一些。

It means to say your goodbyes. 短語搭配

这意味着，你要好好道别。

I lived with that diagnosis all day.

我带着这个诊断过了一整天。

Later that evening, I had a biopsy

当天晚上晚些时候，我做了活检，

where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach, and into my intestines,

他们把一根内窥镜从我的喉咙伸下去，穿过胃，一直到肠子里，

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

然后用针扎进我的胰腺，从肿瘤里取出了一些细胞。

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

我当时被镇静了，但在场的我妻子

told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope,

后来告诉我，当他们在显微镜下观察那些细胞时，

the doctor started crying,

医生竟然哭了起来，

because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer

因为结果发现，那是一种非常罕见的胰腺癌，

that is curable with surgery. 用詞

可以通过手术治愈。

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

我做了手术，谢天谢地，现在我没事了。

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

这是我离直面死亡最近的一次，

and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades.

我也希望未来几十年里，这仍然是最近的一次。

Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty 語法

亲身经历之后，我现在可以带着比以前更多一点的确定性对你们说这些，

than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept.

而不像那时，死亡还只是一个有用却纯属理性的概念。

No one wants to die.

没有人想死。

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

就连想上天堂的人，也不想为了去那里而死。

And yet, death is the destination we all share. 表達脈絡

然而，死亡是我们所有人共同的终点。

No one has ever escaped it.

从来没有人逃得过。

And that is as it should be,

而事情本就该如此，

because death is very likely the single best invention of life.

因为死亡很可能是生命最伟大的发明。

It's life's change agent. 習語

它是生命的变革推动者。

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

它清除旧的，为新的让路。

Right now, the new is you.

此刻，新的就是你们。

But someday not too long from now,

但总有一天，而且不会太久，

you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

你们会逐渐变成旧的，然后被清除出去。

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

抱歉我说得这么戏剧化，但这确实是真的。

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

你们的时间有限，所以不要浪费时间去过别人的人生。

Don't be trapped by dogma, 用詞

不要被教条束缚，

which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

那意味着按照别人的想法来生活。

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

不要让别人的意见形成的噪音淹没你内心的声音。

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

最重要的是，要有勇气追随你的内心和直觉。

They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

它们不知怎么地，早已知道你真正想成为什么样的人。

Everything else is secondary. 表達脈絡

其他一切都是次要的。

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called the Whole Earth Catalog, 文化背景

我年轻的时候，有一本了不起的刊物，叫《全球概览》，

which was one of the Bibles of my generation. 習語

它是我们这一代人的圣经之一。

It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand, not far from here in Menlo Park,

它是由一位叫 Stewart Brand 的人创办的，就在离这里不远的 Menlo Park，

and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. 習語

他用自己充满诗意的方式赋予了它生命。

This was in the late '60s, before personal computers and desktop publishing. 講解

那是 60 年代末，还没有个人电脑和桌面出版。

So it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras.

所以整本刊物都是用打字机、剪刀和宝丽来相机做出来的。

It was sort of like Google in paperback form 35 years before Google came along. 講解

它有点像 Google 出现前 35 年的纸质版 Google。

It was idealistic, overflowing with neat tools, and great notions.

它充满理想主义，塞满了好用的工具和精彩的想法。

Stewart and his team put out several issues of the Whole Earth Catalog, 短語動詞

Stewart 和他的团队出了好几期《全球概览》，

and then, when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. 習語

后来，当它完成自己的使命后，他们又出了最后一期。

It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.

那是 70 年代中期，而我那时和你们现在一样大。

On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road,

在最后一期的封底上，有一张清晨乡间公路的照片，

the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.

就像那种如果你够爱冒险，可能会搭便车走上的路。

Beneath it were the words, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." 習語

下面写着这样一句话：“求知若饥，虚心若愚。”

It was their farewell message as they signed off. 短語動詞

那是他们停刊时留下的告别寄语。

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

求知若饥，虚心若愚。

And I have always wished that for myself.

而我一直希望自己能如此。

And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. 表達脈絡

现在，当你们毕业、即将重新出发之际，我也把这句话送给你们。

Stay hungry.

求知若饥。

Stay foolish.

虚心若愚。

Thank you all very much.

非常感谢大家。

The preceding program is copyrighted by Stanford University.

刚才的节目版权归斯坦福大学所有。

Please visit us at stanford.edu.

欢迎访问 stanford.edu。