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

我很榮幸今天能和你們一起參加你們的畢業典禮。

from one of the finest universities in the world.

來自世界上最好的大學之一。

Truth be told,

實話實說。

I never graduated from college,

我從來沒有從大學畢業。

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

這是我最接近的一次大學畢業典禮。

Today, I want to tell you three stories from my life.

今天，我想給大家講三個我生活中的故事。

That's it.

就這樣吧

No big deal.

沒什麼大不了的

Just three stories.

只有三個故事。

The first story

第一個故事

is about connecting the dots.

是關於連接點。

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months,

我在前半年就從裡德學院退學了。

but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.

但後來又在這裡做了18個月左右的投遞員，才真正退出。

So why did I drop out?

那我為什麼要退學呢？

It started before I was born.

在我出生前就開始了。

My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student,

我的生母是一個年輕的未婚研究所學生。

and she decided to put me up for adoption.

她決定把我送去收養。

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

她非常強烈地覺得，我應該被大學畢業生收養。

so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.

所以一切都準備好了，我一出生就被一個律師和他的妻子收養了。

Except that when I popped out

除了當我跳出來的時候

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

他們在最後一刻決定 他們真的想要一個女孩。

So my parents, who were on a waiting list,

所以，我的父母，是在等待的名單上。

got a call in the middle of the night asking,

半夜接到一個電話，問。

"We've got an unexpected baby boy.

"我們有了一個意外的男嬰。

Do you want him?"

你想要他嗎？"

They said,

他們說：

"Of course."

"當然，"

My biological mother found out later that

我的生母后來才知道

my mother had never graduated from college

我媽沒上過大學

and that my father had never graduated from high school.

而我的父親從來沒有從高中畢業。

She refused to sign the final adoption papers.

她拒絕在最後的收養文件上簽字。

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that

幾個月後，我父母答應她，她才肯罷休。

I would go to college.

我會去上大學。

This was the start in my life.

這是我人生的開始。

And 17 years later I did go to college.

而17年後，我真的上了大學。

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

但我天真地選擇了一所和斯坦福差不多貴的大學。

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

而我工薪階層父母的所有積蓄都花在了我的大學學費上。

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

半年後，我看不出它的價值。

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

我不知道我想做什麼，我的生活。

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

也不知道大學怎麼幫我想辦法。

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

而我卻在這裡花光了父母一輩子攢下的錢。

So I decided to drop out

所以我決定退學

and trust that it would all work out OK.

並相信一切都會好起來的。

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back

當時是挺嚇人的，但現在回想起來

it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

這是我做過的最好的決定之一。

The minute I dropped out

在我退學的那一刻

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

我可以不選那些我不感興趣的必修課了。

and begin dropping in

滴入

on the ones that looked far more interesting.

在那些看起來更有趣的。

It wasn't all romantic.

這並不都是浪漫的。

I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms.

我沒有宿舍，所以我睡在朋友房間的地板上。

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

我把可樂瓶還給了5分錢的押金，用它來買菜。

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

我每週日晚上都會走7英里的路過鎮上。

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

以期每週能在哈里-克里希納寺吃上一頓好飯。

I loved it.

我喜歡它

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

而我按照自己的好奇心和直覺偶然發現的很多東西，在後來都變成了無價之寶。

Let me give you one example.

我舉一個例子。

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.

勵志學院在當時提供的書法教學也許是全國最好的。

Throughout the campus

在整個校園裡

every poster, every label on every drawer,

每張海報，每張抽屜上的標籤。

was beautifully hand-calligraphed.

是精美的手抄報。

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

因為我已經退學了，不用再上正常的課。

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

我決定參加一個書法班，學習如何做這件事。

I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces,

我瞭解了襯線字體和無襯線字體。

about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations,

關於改變不同字母組合之間的空間大小。

about what makes great typography great.

關於什麼是偉大的排版設計。

It was beautiful, historical,

它很美，很有歷史感。

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

藝術上的微妙，是科學無法捕捉的。

and I found it fascinating.

我覺得它很迷人。

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

這一切在我的生活中甚至沒有任何實際應用的希望。

But ten years later,

但十年後。

when we were designing the first Macintosh computer,

當我們在設計第一臺Macintosh電腦的時候。

it all came back to me.

這一切都回到了我的身上。

And we designed it all into the Mac.

而我們把這一切都設計到了Mac中。

It was the first computer with beautiful typography.

它是第一臺排版精美的電腦。

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

如果我在大學裡沒有落下那一門課程。

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

Mac本來就不會有多種字體或按比例間隔的字體。

And since Windows just copied the Mac,

而由於Windows只是複製了Mac。

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

很可能沒有個人電腦會有這些東西。

If I had never dropped out,

如果我沒有退學

I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class,

我是絕對不會掉進那個書法班的。

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

和個人電腦可能沒有他們的精彩排版。

Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.

當然，在我上大學的時候，向前看是不可能連成一片的。

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

但十年後往後看，非常非常清楚。

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

同樣，你也不能連接點向前看。

you can only connect them looking backwards.

你只能把它們連接起來向後看。

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

所以你要相信，在你的未來，這些點會以某種方式連接起來。

You have to trust in something.

你必須相信一些東西。

Your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

你的直覺，命運，生命，業力，什麼的。

Because believing that the dots will connect down the road

因為相信點點滴滴都會連成一線

will give you the confidence to follow your heart,

會讓你有信心跟隨自己的內心。

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

即使它把你引出了一條老路。

and that will make all the difference.

這將使所有的差異。

My second story

我的第二個故事

is about love and loss.

是關於愛和失去。

I was lucky.

我是幸運的。

I found what I loved to do early in life.

我很早就找到了自己喜歡做的事情。

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

Woz和我在20歲的時候，在我父母的車庫裡創辦了蘋果公司。

We worked hard,

我們很努力。

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

在10年的時間裡，蘋果公司從只有我們兩個人在車庫裡發展起來了。

into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees.

成20億美元的公司，員工超過4000人。

We'd just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I'd just turned 30.

一年前，我們剛剛發佈了我們最優秀的作品--Macintosh，那時我剛滿30歲。

And then I got fired.

然後我被解僱了。

How can you get fired from a company you started?

自己開的公司怎麼會被開除？

Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me,

好吧，隨著蘋果公司的發展，我們聘請了一個我認為很有才華的人和我一起管理公司。

and for the first year or so things went well.

而在第一年左右的時間裡，一切都很順利。

But then our visions of the future began to diverge

但後來我們對未來的憧憬開始有了分歧。

and eventually we had a falling out.

最後我們鬧翻了。

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

當我們這樣做的時候，我們的董事會就站在他一邊。

And so at 30 I was out.

所以在30歲的時候我就出局了。

And very publicly out.

而且很公開的出。

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

我整個成人生活的重心已經不在了。

and it was devastating.

而且是毀滅性的。

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

幾個月來，我真的不知道該怎麼辦。

I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down

我覺得自己讓上一代企業家失望了

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

我的警棍在傳給我的時候掉了。

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce

我見過大衛-帕卡德和鮑勃-諾伊斯。

and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.

並試圖為自己搞砸了如此嚴重的事情道歉。

I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the Valley.

我是一個很當眾的失敗者，我甚至想過逃離山谷。

But something slowly began to dawn on me.

但有些事情我開始慢慢明白了。

I still loved what I did.

我還是喜歡我所做的事情。

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

蘋果公司的變故絲毫沒有改變這一點。

I had been rejected,

我已經被拒絕了。

but I was still in love.

但我還是愛上了。

And so I decided to start over.

於是我決定重新開始。

I didn't see it then,

我當時沒有看到。

but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

但事實證明，被蘋果公司解僱是最好的事情，可能曾經發生在我身上。

The heaviness of being successful

成功的沉重

was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again,

被再次成為初學者的輕快感所取代。

less sure about everything.

對一切都不太確定。

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

它讓我自由地進入了我生命中最有創造力的時期之一。

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

在接下來的五年裡，我創辦了一家名為NeXT的公司。

another company named Pixar,

另一家名為皮克斯的公司。

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

並愛上了一個神奇的女人，她將成為我的妻子。

Pixar went on to create the world's first computer animated feature film, Toy Story,

皮克斯接著創作了世界上第一部電腦動畫長片《玩具總動員》。

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

併成為目前世界上最成功的動畫工作室。

In a remarkable turn of events,

在一個非凡的轉折中。

Apple bought NeXT and I returned to Apple,

蘋果收購了NeXT，我又回到了蘋果。

and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance.

而我們在NeXT開發的技術正是蘋果當前復興的核心。

And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

而勞倫和我有一個美好的家庭在一起。

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple.

我很確定，如果我沒有被蘋果公司解僱，這一切都不會發生。

It was awful tasting medicine,

這是可怕的藥味。

but I guess the patient needed it.

但我想病人需要它。

Sometimes life

有時候，生活

Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick.

有時候，生活會用磚頭砸你的腦袋。

Don't lose faith.

不要失去信心。

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

我相信，唯一讓我堅持下去的原因是

was that I loved what I did.

是我喜歡我的工作。

You've got to find what you love.

你必須找到你喜歡的東西。

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

對工作是這樣，對夫妻也是這樣。

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

你的工作將充實你生活的很大一部分。

and the only way to be truly satisfied

也只有這樣才能真正滿足

is to do what you believe is great work.

是做自己認為偉大的工作。

And the only way to do great work

也只有這樣才能做大做強

is to love what you do.

就是要熱愛自己的工作。

If you haven't found it yet,

如果你還沒有找到它。

keep looking and don't settle.

守株待兔

As with all matters of the heart,

如同所有的心事。

you'll know when you find it.

你會知道，當你找到它。

And, like any great relationship,

而且，像任何偉大的關係。

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

隨著歲月的流逝，它只是越來越好。

So keep looking. Don't settle.

所以，繼續尋找。不要滿足。

My third story

我的第三個故事

is about death.

是關於死亡的。

When I was 17,

我17歲的時候

I read a quote that went something like:

我看過一句話，是這樣說的：

"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."

"如果你把每一天都當做最後一天來過，總有一天，你肯定是對的。"

It made an impression on me,

它給我留下了深刻的印象。

and since then, for the past 33 years,

並從那時起，在過去的33年裡。

I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself:

我每天早上都對著鏡子問自己。

"If today were the last day of my life,

"如果今天是我生命的最後一天。

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

我會想做我今天要做的事嗎？"

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

而每當連續太多天的答案都是 "不"。

I know I need to change something.

我知道我需要改變一些東西。

Remembering that I'll be dead soon

記得我很快就會死去

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

是我所遇到的最重要的工具，幫助我做出人生的重大選擇。

Because almost everything,

因為幾乎所有的東西。

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

所有外在的期望，所有的驕傲，所有對尷尬或失敗的恐懼。

these things just fall away in the face of death,

這些東西在死亡面前就會消失。

leaving only what is truly important.

只留下真正重要的東西。

Remembering that you are going to die

記住你是會死的

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

是我所知道的最好的方法，以避免認為你有什麼損失的陷阱。

You are already naked.

你已經是赤裸裸的了。

There is no reason not to follow your heart.

沒有理由不跟隨自己的內心。

About a year ago

大約一年前

I was diagnosed with cancer.

我被診斷出患有癌症。

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

我是早上7點半做的掃描。

and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.

它清楚地顯示了我的胰腺上有一個腫瘤。

I didn't even know what a pancreas was.

我甚至不知道什麼是胰腺。

The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable,

醫生告訴我，這幾乎可以肯定是一種無法治癒的癌症。

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

並說我的壽命不會超過三到六個月。

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

醫生建議我回家把自己的事情處理好。

which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

這是醫生的代碼，準備死。

It means to try and tell your kids everything

意思是說，你要試著告訴你的孩子一切

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

你以為你有10年的時間來告訴他們嗎？

in just a few months.

在短短几個月內。

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up

意思是要確保所有東西都扣好了

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

以便讓你的家人儘可能的輕鬆。

It means to say your goodbyes.

意思是說你要告別了。

I lived with that diagnosis all day.

我整天帶著這個診斷結果生活。

Later that evening I had a biopsy,

當天晚上，我做了活檢。

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

他們把內窺鏡插進我的喉嚨裡 穿過我的胃，進入我的腸子裡

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

在我的胰腺裡紮了一針，從腫瘤裡提取了一些細胞。

I was sedated,

我被注射了鎮靜劑。

but my wife, who was there,

但我的妻子，誰在那裡。

told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope

告訴我當他們在顯微鏡下觀察細胞時

the doctors started crying,

醫生們開始哭泣。

because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.

因為它原來是一種非常罕見的胰腺癌，可以通過手術治癒。

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

我做了手術，慶幸的是，我現在很好。

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

這是我離死亡最近的一次。

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

我希望這是我幾十年來最接近的一次。

Having lived through it,

經歷過。

I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

我現在可以更肯定地對你說，比起死亡是一個有用的但純智力的概念時，我更有把握。

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.

即使是想上天堂的人，也不想死在那裡。

And yet,

然而。

death is the destination we all share.

死亡是我們共同的目的地。

No one has ever escaped it.

沒有人能夠逃過它。

And that is as it should be,

這也是應該的。

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

因為死亡很有可能是生命的一個最好的發明。

It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

它是生命的改變劑。它清除舊的，為新的讓路。

Right now the new is you,

現在新的是你。

but someday not too long from now,

但在不久之後的某一天。

you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.