史蒂夫·賈伯斯 2005 年史丹佛大學畢業典禮演講：英語精讀講義

This program is brought to you by Stanford University.

本節目由史丹佛大學為您呈現。

Please visit us at stanford.edu.

歡迎造訪 stanford.edu。

Thank you.

謝謝。

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

今天能在你們的畢業典禮上與你們相聚，我深感榮幸，

from one of the finest universities in the world.

這所學校是世界上最優秀的大學之一。

Truth be told, 片語搭配

說實話，

I never graduated from college,

我從來沒有大學畢業，

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

而這已經是我最接近大學畢業的一次了。

Today,

今天，

I want to tell you three stories from my life.

我想講講我人生中的三個故事。

That's it.

就這樣。

No big deal.

沒什麼大不了的。

Just three stories.

就三個故事。

The first story is about connecting the dots. 慣用語

第一個故事，是關於如何把點連起來。

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

我在里德學院讀了六個月後退學了，

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

但之後又以旁聽生的身分待了大約十八個月，

before I really quit.

才真正離開。

So why did I drop out?

那我為什麼退學呢？

It started before I was born.

這件事要從我出生前說起。

My biological mother was a young unwed graduate student,

我的生母是一位年輕的未婚研究生，

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

她決定把我送人收養。

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

她非常堅持一點：收養我的人必須是大學畢業生，

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

所以一切都已經安排好了，我一出生就會被收養，

by a lawyer and his wife.

由一位律師和他的妻子收養。

Except that when I popped out, 用詞

結果就在我出生時，

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

他們在最後一刻決定，其實他們更想要一個女孩。

So my parents, who were on a waiting list,

於是，我後來的父母當時還在等候名單上，

got a call in the middle of the night asking,

半夜接到一通電話，問他們：

"We've got an unexpected baby boy.

「我們這裡有個意外出生的男嬰。

Do you want him?"

你們願意要他嗎？」

They said, "Of course."

他們說：「當然願意。」

My biological mother found out later

後來我的生母發現，

that my mother had never graduated from college,

我的養母從來沒有大學畢業，

and that my father had never graduated from high school.

而我的養父甚至沒有高中畢業。

She refused to sign the final adoption papers.

她拒絕在最終的收養文件上簽字。

She only relented a few months later 用詞

幾個月後她才鬆口，

when my parents promised that I would go to college.

前提是我的養父母承諾將來會送我上大學。

This was the start in my life.

這就是我人生的起點。

And 17 years later, I did go to college.

17 年後，我確實上了大學。

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

但我天真地選了一所學費幾乎和史丹佛一樣貴的學校，

and all of my working-class parents' savings 用詞

我勞工階級父母的全部積蓄

were being spent on my college tuition.

都花在了我的大學學費上。

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

六個月後，我看不出這件事有什麼價值。

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

我完全不知道自己想拿人生做什麼，

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

也不知道大學怎麼幫我找到答案。

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

可我卻在這裡，花著

my parents had saved their entire life.

我父母一輩子存下來的錢。

So I decided to drop out

所以我決定退學，

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

並相信一切最終都會好起來。

It was pretty scary at the time,

當時真的很可怕，

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

但現在回頭看，那是我做過最好的決定之一。

The minute I dropped out, 文法

我一退學，

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

就可以不再上那些我毫無興趣的必修課，

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

而開始去旁聽那些看起來有趣得多的課程。

It wasn't all romantic. 語氣意圖

這並不全是浪漫的故事。

I didn't have a dorm room,

我沒有宿舍房間，

so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms.

所以只能睡在朋友房間的地板上。

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

我靠退可樂瓶換回 5 美分押金來買東西吃，

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

每個星期天晚上，我都會走 7 英里的路穿過整座城，

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

去哈瑞奎師那神廟吃上一週裡唯一一頓像樣的飯。

I loved it.

我很享受那段日子。

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

而很多我因為追隨好奇心和直覺誤打誤撞遇上的東西，

turned out to be priceless later on. 片語搭配

後來都變得無比珍貴。

Let me give you one example. 表達脈絡

我舉一個例子。

Reed College at that time offered

當時的里德學院

perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.

可能提供了全國最好的書法課程。

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

校園裡每一張海報、每個抽屜上的每一張標籤，

was beautifully hand calligraphed.

都是漂亮的手寫書法。

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

因為我已經退學了，不用再修一般課程，

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

我就決定去上一門書法課，學學這是怎麼寫出來的。

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

我學到了有襯線和無襯線字體，

about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations,

學到了不同字母組合之間的間距該如何變化，

about what makes great typography great. 文法

也學到了偉大的字體排印為什麼偉大。

It was beautiful, historical,

那真是美麗而有歷史感，

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

還有一種科學無法捕捉的藝術性，

and I found it fascinating.

我覺得它太迷人了。

None of this had even a hope 慣用語

這些東西當時看起來根本沒有

of any practical application in my life.

在我的人生裡有任何實際用途的可能。

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

但十年後，當我們設計第一台 Macintosh 電腦時，

it all came back to me. 片語動詞

它們一下子全都回到了我的腦海裡。

And we designed it all into the Mac.

我們把這一切都設計進了 Mac。

It was the first computer with beautiful typography.

它成了第一台擁有優美字體排印的電腦。

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

如果我當年在大學裡沒有去旁聽那一門課，

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

Mac 就不會有多種字體，也不會有按比例間距的字體。

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.

很可能所有個人電腦都不會有這些。

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

如果我當年沒有退學，我就不會去旁聽那門書法課，

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

個人電腦也許就不會擁有今天這樣精妙的字體排印。

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

當然，向前看時根本不可能把這些點連起來，

when I was in college,

當我還在大學裡的時候，

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

但十年後回頭看，一切就非常非常清楚了。

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

再說一次，你無法預先把這些點連起來。

You can only connect them looking backwards.

你只能在回頭看時把它們連起來。

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

所以你必須相信，這些點將來總會連成線。

You have to trust in something,

你必須相信某種東西，

your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever,

你的直覺、命運、人生、業力，隨便什麼都行，

because believing that the dots will connect down the road 慣用語

因為相信這些點終會在前方連起來，

will give you the confidence to follow your heart 慣用語

會給你信心去追隨自己的內心，

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

即使它把你帶離了人們走慣了的路，

and that will make all the difference. 片語搭配

而那將帶來決定性的不同。

My second story is about love and loss.

我的第二個故事，是關於愛與失去。

I was lucky.

我很幸運。

I found what I loved to do early in life.

我很早就找到了自己熱愛的事情。

Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage

Woz 和我在我父母家的車庫裡創辦了 Apple。

when I was 20.

那時我 20 歲。

We worked hard,

我們拚命工作，

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

10 年間，Apple 從車庫裡只有我們兩個人，

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

發展成一家擁有 4,000 多名員工、價值 20 億美元的公司。

We just released our finest creation, the Macintosh,

我們剛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.

而我剛滿 30 歲。

And then I got fired. 文法

然後我被解僱了。

How can you get fired from a company you started?

你怎麼會被自己親手創辦的公司解僱呢？

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

事情是這樣的，隨著 Apple 的成長，我們請來了一位我認為非常有才華的人，

to run the company with me.

和我一起管理公司。

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

最開始一年左右，一切都很順利。

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

但後來，我們對未來的看法開始出現分歧，

and eventually we had a falling out. 慣用語

最終鬧翻了。

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

等到真的鬧翻時，董事會站在了他那一邊。

And so at 30, I was out, 用詞

所以到了 30 歲，我出局了，

and very publicly out.

而且是在眾目睽睽之下出局。

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

我整個成年人生的重心突然消失了，

and it was devastating.

那真是毀滅性的打擊。

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

有幾個月時間，我真的不知道該做什麼。

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

我覺得自己讓上一代創業者失望了，

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

覺得接力棒傳到我手裡時，我卻把它掉了。

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce

我去見了 David Packard 和 Bob Noyce，

and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. 用詞

想為自己把事情搞得這麼糟而向他們道歉。

I was a very public failure,

我成了一個公開的失敗者，

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

我甚至想過逃離矽谷。

But something slowly began to dawn on me. 慣用語

但慢慢地，我開始意識到一件事。

I still loved what I did.

我依然熱愛我所做的事。

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

在 Apple 發生的這一切絲毫沒有改變這一點。

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

我被拒絕了，但我依然深愛著它。

And so I decided to start over. 片語動詞

所以我決定重新開始。

I didn't see it then,

當時我並沒有看出來，

but it turned out that getting fired from Apple

但後來事實證明，被 Apple 解僱

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

是發生在我身上最好的事情。

The heaviness of being successful was replaced 表達脈絡

成功帶來的沉重感，

by the lightness of being a beginner again,

被再次成為初學者的輕鬆感取代了，

less sure about everything.

對一切都沒那麼篤定了。

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

這讓我得以進入人生中最有創造力的一段時期。

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

接下來的 5 年裡，我創辦了一家叫 NeXT 的公司，

another company named Pixar,

又創辦了一家叫 Pixar 的公司，

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

還愛上了一位了不起的女人，她後來成了我的妻子。

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

Pixar 後來製作出了世界上第一部全電腦動畫長片，

Toy Story,

《玩具總動員》，

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

如今它已經是世界上最成功的動畫工作室。

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

在一個戲劇性的轉折中，Apple 收購了 NeXT，

and I returned to Apple,

我也回到了 Apple，

and the technology we developed at NeXT

而我們在 NeXT 開發的技術，

is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. 慣用語

正是 Apple 當下復興的核心。

And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

此外，Laurene 和我還一起擁有了一個美好的家庭。

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

我幾乎可以肯定，這一切都不會發生，

if I hadn't been fired from Apple.

如果我當初沒有被 Apple 解僱。

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

那藥嘗起來很苦，但我想病人確實需要它。

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

有時候，生活會拿磚頭朝你頭上砸過來。

Don't lose faith.

不要失去信念。

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

我深信，唯一支撐我繼續走下去的，

was that I loved what I did.

就是我熱愛自己所做的事。

You've got to find what you love, 用詞

你必須找到你所熱愛的東西，

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

這一點對工作如此，對愛人也是如此。

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

你的工作將佔據你生命中很大的一部分，

and the only way to be truly satisfied 文法

而獲得真正滿足的唯一方法，

is to do what you believe is great work.

就是去做你認為偉大的工作。

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

而做出偉大工作的唯一方法，就是熱愛你所做的事。

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

如果你還沒有找到，那就繼續找，

and don't settle.

不要將就。

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

就像所有關乎內心的事情一樣，等你找到時，你會知道的。

And like any great relationship,

就像任何一段偉大的關係一樣，

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

隨著歲月流逝，它只會變得越來越好。

So keep looking.

所以，繼續尋找。

Don't settle.

不要將就。

My third story is about death.

我的第三個故事，是關於死亡。

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

我 17 歲時，讀到過一句大意如下的話，

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

「如果你把每一天都當作生命中的最後一天來過，

someday you'll most certainly be right."

那麼總有一天，你肯定會是對的。」

It made an impression on me, 片語搭配

這句話給我留下了深刻印象，

and since then, for the past 33 years,

從那以後，過去 33 年裡，

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

我每天早晨都會對著鏡子問自己：

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

「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?"

我還會想去做我今天將要做的事嗎？」

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

而每當答案連續很多天都是「不」，

I know I need to change something.

我就知道自己需要做出一些改變了。

Remembering that I'll be dead soon 文法

記住自己很快就會死去，

is the most important tool I've ever encountered

是我遇過最重要的工具，

to help me make the big choices in life.

它能幫助我做出人生中的重大選擇。

Because almost everything, all external

因為幾乎所有東西，所有外在的

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

期待，所有的自尊，所有對難堪或失敗的恐懼，

these things just fall away in the face of death, 慣用語

在死亡面前都會消散，

leaving only what is truly important.

留下的只有真正重要的東西。

Remembering that you are going to die

記住你終將死去，

is the best way I know to avoid the trap 慣用語

是我所知道避免陷入陷阱的最好方法，

of thinking you have something to lose.

這種陷阱就是以為你還有什麼可失去的。

You are already naked. 慣用語

你本來就是赤裸裸的。

There is no reason not to follow your heart. 文法

沒有理由不追隨你的內心。

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

大約一年前，我被診斷出癌症。

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

那天早上 7 點半，我做了掃描檢查，

and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.

檢查清楚地顯示，我的胰臟上長了個腫瘤。

I didn't even know what a pancreas was.

我那時甚至都不知道胰臟是什麼。

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

醫生告訴我，這幾乎肯定是一種無法治癒的癌症，

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

我最多只能再活 3 到 6 個月。

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

我的醫生建議我回家，把該安排的事情都安排好，

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

這是醫生委婉地在說：準備面對死亡。

It means to try and tell your kids everything,

這意味著，你要盡量把想對孩子說的一切都說完，

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

那些你原以為未來 10 年還有時間說的話，

in just a few months.

現在要在短短幾個月裡說完。

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up, 慣用語

這意味著，你要確保一切都處理妥當，

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

讓家人將來儘可能輕鬆一些。

It means to say your goodbyes. 片語搭配

這意味著，你要好好道別。

I lived with that diagnosis all day.

我帶著這個診斷過了一整天。

Later that evening, I had a biopsy

當天晚上稍晚時，我做了切片檢查，

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

他們把一根內視鏡從我的喉嚨伸下去，穿過胃，一直到腸子裡，

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

然後用針扎進我的胰臟，從腫瘤裡取出了一些細胞。

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

我當時被鎮靜了，但在場的我妻子

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

後來告訴我，當他們在顯微鏡下觀察那些細胞時，

the doctor started crying,

醫生竟然哭了起來，

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

因為結果發現，那是一種非常罕見的胰臟癌，

that is curable with surgery. 用詞

可以透過手術治癒。

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

我做了手術，謝天謝地，現在我沒事了。

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

這是我離直面死亡最近的一次，

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

我也希望未來幾十年裡，這仍然是最近的一次。

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

親身經歷之後，我現在可以帶著比以前多一點的確定性對你們說這些，

than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept.

而不像那時，死亡還只是一個有用卻純屬理性的概念。

No one wants to die.

沒有人想死。

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

就連想上天堂的人，也不想為了去那裡而死。

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

然而，死亡是我們所有人共同的終點。

No one has ever escaped it.

從來沒有人逃得過。

And that is as it should be,

而事情本就該如此，

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

因為死亡很可能是生命最偉大的發明。

It's life's change agent. 慣用語

它是生命的變革推手。

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

它清除舊的，為新的讓路。

Right now, the new is you.

此刻，新的就是你們。

But someday not too long from now,

但總有一天，而且不會太久，

you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

你們會逐漸變成舊的，然後被清除出去。

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

抱歉我說得這麼戲劇化，但這確實是真的。

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

你們的時間有限，所以不要浪費時間去過別人的人生。

Don't be trapped by dogma, 用詞

不要被教條束縛，

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

那意味著照著別人的想法過日子。

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

不要讓別人的意見淹沒你內心的聲音。

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

最重要的是，要有勇氣追隨你的內心和直覺。

They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

它們不知怎麼地，早已知道你真正想成為什麼樣的人。

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

我年輕的時候，有一本了不起的刊物，叫《全球概覽》，

which was one of the Bibles of my generation. 慣用語

它是我們這一代人的聖經之一。

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

它是由一位叫 Stewart Brand 的人創辦的，就在離這裡不遠的 Menlo Park，

and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. 慣用語

他用自己充滿詩意的方式賦予了它生命。

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

那是 60 年代末，還沒有個人電腦和桌上出版。

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

所以整本刊物都是用打字機、剪刀和拍立得相機做出來的。

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

它有點像 Google 出現前 35 年的紙本版 Google。

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

它充滿理想主義，塞滿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, 片語動詞

Stewart 和他的團隊出了好幾期《全球概覽》，

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

後來，當它完成自己的使命後，他們又出了最後一期。

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

那是 70 年代中期，而我那時和你們現在一樣大。

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

在最後一期的封底上，有一張清晨鄉間公路的照片，

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

就像那種如果你夠愛冒險，可能會搭便車走上的路。

Beneath it were the words, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." 慣用語

下面寫著這樣一句話：「求知若飢，虛心若愚。」

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

那是他們停刊時留下的告別寄語。

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

求知若飢，虛心若愚。

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

現在，當你們畢業、即將重新出發之際，我也把這句話送給你們。

Stay hungry.

求知若飢。

Stay foolish.

虛心若愚。

Thank you all very much.

非常感謝大家。

The preceding program is copyrighted by Stanford University.

剛才的節目版權歸史丹佛大學所有。

Please visit us at stanford.edu.

歡迎造訪 stanford.edu。