RIP Steve Jobs

Apple fanatics worldwide were touched by the death of Steven Paul Jobs, co-founder chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. It is to Jobs that the Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad are credited (among others). Hours after he succumbed to pancreatic cancer on October 5th, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter were flooded with tributes to the phenomenal inventor and entrepreneur.

Jobs was daring. He was brilliant. He also had a gift for turning a clever phrase. Now, as one of the fathers of the personal computing era passes on, let me share these inspirational quotes from Jobs.

Before I do that though, let me point out that Jobs was born to unmarried university students who gave him up for adoption to the Jobs’ after birth. Since his pregnancy was unplanned, his mother could have easily opted to terminate it, which would have meant the world would probably never have had Apple or any of its products. We all would have been robbed of a great man and his inventions.

So, if you are a young unmarried mother faced with an unplanned pregnancy, think, for a minute of the life you will rob that child of if you get an abortion. He or she might be the world’s next best thing. They might be destined for greatness; they might just put Malawi on the world map.

On life:

“You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” (Steve Jobs, 2005)

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

On work:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” (Steve Jobs, 2005)

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” (Steve Jobs, 2005)