Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish (2005)
Source: Hacker News
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary
To mark the 20th anniversary of Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford, a newly enhanced version of the video is available below and on YouTube. The talk is one of the most influential commencement speeches in history, viewed over 120 million times and reproduced in media and school curricula worldwide. It even helped inspire an unlikely NBA title comeback for the Cleveland Cavaliers when LeBron James played a clip from it in the locker room before a critical Game 3 against the Golden State Warriors in 2016.
Why the Speech Stands Out
It is not an obvious candidate for a classic: a commencement address by a college dropout, aimed at 22‑year‑olds, warning “You will gradually become the old and be cleared away.” The text is as shadowed by reality as it is soaring with inspiration: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
The speech comes from a tech founder who scarcely mentions technology. A few years earlier, Jobs told an interviewer, “People sometimes forget that they are very unique and that they have very unique feelings and perspectives. The whole computer industry wants to forget about the humanist side.” He had not forgotten. At Stanford, under the guise of great simplicity—“Today I want to tell you three stories from my life”—Jobs touches on fundamental truths that make us human: love, death, fear, authenticity, hope.
Preparation and Personal Stakes
The talk generated a measure of anxiety for Jobs. He had attended Reed College for only a few months before dropping out; now he would be speaking to graduates of one of the world’s top research universities, a place that meant a great deal to him. An intensely private man, Jobs was not in the habit of talking about his personal journey—but he knew the occasion required it.
He did not know he wasn’t the students’ top choice for a speaker. They wanted comedian Jon Stewart, who had given a popular commencement address the year before. Arnold Schwarzenegger, movie‑star‑turned‑governor of California, was the third choice.
In the six months between the invitation from Stanford president John Hennessy and commencement, Jobs sent himself notes, outlines, and drafts of ideas. As the date grew closer, the PR team at Apple began offering suggestions, which he did not use. Jobs requested ideas from the four senior class co‑presidents; they sent him thoughts and didn’t hear back. He asked friends for advice. In the final weeks before graduation, working in close consultation with his wife Laurene, Jobs wrote the speech himself.