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Top 100+ Best Thoughts & Quotes By Steve Jobs

Top 100+ Best Thoughts & Quotes By Steve Jobs
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  1. We’ve demonstrated a strong track record of being very disciplined with the use of our cash. We don’t let it burn a hole in our pocket, we don’t allow it to motivate us to do stupid acquisitions. And so I think that we’d like to continue to keep our powder dry, because we do feel that there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future. ~ Steve Jobs
  2. Things don’t have to change the world to be important. ~ Steve Jobs
  3. I believe life is an intelligent thing: that things aren’t random. ~ Steve Jobs
  4. Most people have no concept of how an automatic transmission works, yet they know how to drive a car. You don’t have to study physics to understand the laws of motion to drive a car. You don’t have to understand any of this stuff to use Macintosh. ~ Steve Jobs
  5. You know, my main reaction to this money thing is that it’s humorous, all the attention to it, because it’s hardly the most insightful or valuable thing that’s happened to me. ~ Steve Jobs
  6. Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation. ~ Steve Jobs
  7. It’s hard to tell with these Internet startups if they’re really interested in building companies or if they’re just interested in the money. I can tell you, though: If they don’t really want to build a company, they won’t luck into it. That’s because it’s so hard that if you don’t have a passion, you’ll give up. ~ Steve Jobs
  8. Innovation has nothing to do with how many R & D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R & D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it. ~ Steve Jobs
  9. I’m sorry, it’s true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time. Technology is not changing it much – if at all. ~ Steve Jobs
  10. I’ve always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do. ~ Steve Jobs
  11. The reason that Apple is able to create products like the iPad is because we’ve always tried to be at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. ~ Steve Jobs
  12. The over-all point is that new technology will not necessarily replace old technology, but it will date it. By definition. Eventually, it will replace it. But it’s like people who had black-and-white TVs when color came out. They eventually decided whether or not the new technology was worth the investment. ~ Steve Jobs
  13. You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. 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
  14. The design of the Mac wasn’t what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it. ~ Steve Jobs
  15. In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. ~ Steve Jobs
  16. Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. ~ Steve Jobs
  17. Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. ~ Steve Jobs
  18. It’s not the tools that you have faith in – tools are just tools. They work, or they don’t work. It’s people you have faith in or not. Yeah, sure, I’m still optimistic I mean, I get pessimistic sometimes but not for long. ~ Steve Jobs
  19. It’s not a faith in technology. It’s faith in people. ~ Steve Jobs
  20. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. ~ Steve Jobs
  21. These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. You may have a child with a birth defect and be able to get in touch with other parents and support groups, get medical information, the latest experimental drugs. These things can profoundly influence life. I’m not downplaying that. ~ Steve Jobs
  22. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. ~ Steve Jobs
  23. I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard on something, but working on Macintosh was the neatest experience of my life. Almost everyone who worked on it will say that. None of us wanted to release it at the end. It was as though we knew that once it was out of our hands, it wouldn’t be ours anymore. ~ Steve Jobs
  24. Our DNA is as a consumer company – for that individual customer who’s voting thumbs up or thumbs down. That’s who we think about. And we think that our job is to take responsibility for the complete user experience. And if it’s not up to par, it’s our fault, plain and simply. ~ Steve Jobs
  25. We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? So this is what we’ve chosen to do with our life. ~ Steve Jobs
  26. We want to reinvent the phone. What’s the killer app? The killer app is making calls! It’s amazing how hard it is to make calls on most phones. We want to let you use contacts like never before – sync your iPhone with your PC or mac. ~ Steve Jobs
  27. Woz is living his own life now. He hasn’t been around Apple for about five years. But what he did will go down in history. ~ Steve Jobs
  28. Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them. ~ Steve Jobs
  29. We hire people who want to make the best things in the world. ~ Steve Jobs
  30. 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
  31. Our goal is to make the best devices in the world, not to be the biggest. ~ Steve Jobs
  32. I think it’s brought the world a lot closer together, and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I’ve ever seen is called television – but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent. ~ Steve Jobs
  33. You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new. ~ Steve Jobs
  34. My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. ~ Steve Jobs
  35. 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. ~ Steve Jobs
  36. Each year has been so robust with problems and successes and learning experiences and human experienes that a year is a lifetime at Apple. So this has been ten lifetimes. ~ Steve Jobs
  37. Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence. ~ Steve Jobs
  38. I’m an optimist in the sense that I believe humans are noble and honorable, and some of them are really smart. I have a very optimistic view of individuals. ~ Steve Jobs
  39. For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. ~ Steve Jobs
  40. It is piracy, not overt online music stores, which is our main competitor. ~ Steve Jobs
  41. No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. ~ Steve Jobs
  42. Part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, poets, and artists, and zoologists, and historians. They also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world. But if it hadn’t been computer science, these people would have been doing amazing things in other fields. ~ Steve Jobs
  43. That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. ~ Steve Jobs
  44. We’re going to be able to ask our computers to monitor things for us, and when certain conditions happen, are triggered, the computers will take certain actions and inform us after the fact. ~ Steve Jobs
  45. This is what customers pay us for – to sweat all these details so it’s easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We’re supposed to be really good at this. That doesn’t mean we don’t listen to customers, but it’s hard for them to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it. ~ Steve Jobs
  46. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. The iMac is not just the color or translucence or the shape of the shell. The essence of the iMac is to be the finest possible consumer computer in which each element plays together. ~ Steve Jobs
  47. The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people – as remarkable as the telephone. ~ Steve Jobs
  48. What is Apple, after all? Apple is about people who think ‘outside the box,’ people who want to use computers to help them change the world, to help them create things that make a difference, and not just to get a job done. ~ Steve Jobs
  49. Computers themselves, and software yet to be developed, will revolutionize the way we learn. ~ Steve Jobs
  50. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating. ~ Steve Jobs
  51. The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay. ~ Steve Jobs
  52. 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. ~ Steve Jobs
  53. I met Woz when I was 13, at a friend’s garage. He was about 18. He was, like, the first person I met who knew more electronics than I did at that point. We became good friends, because we shared an interest in computers and we had a sense of humor. We pulled all kinds of pranks together. ~ Steve Jobs
  54. Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future. ~ Steve Jobs
  55. 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. ~ Steve Jobs
  56. I have a great respect for incremental improvement, and I’ve done that sort of thing in my life, but I’ve always been attracted to the more revolutionary changes. I don’t know why. Because they’re harder. They’re much more stressful emotionally. And you usually go through a period where everybody tells you that you’ve completely failed. ~ Steve Jobs
  57. I’ll always stay connected with Apple. I hope that throughout my life I’ll sort of have the thread of my life and the thread of Apple weave in and out of each other, like a tapestry. There may be a few years when I’m not there, but I’ll always come back. ~ Steve Jobs
  58. But Apple really beats to a different drummer. I used to say that Apple should be the Sony of this business, but in reality, I think Apple should be the Apple of this business. ~ Steve Jobs
  59. Microsoft has had two goals in the last 10 years. One was to copy the Mac, and the other was to copy Lotus’ success in the spreadsheet – basically, the applications business. And over the course of the last 10 years, Microsoft accomplished both of those goals. And now they are completely lost. ~ Steve Jobs
  60. My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others’ negative tendencies in check they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. ~ Steve Jobs
  61. When you’re young, you look at television and think, there’s a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that’s not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. ~ Steve Jobs
  62. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations. ~ Steve Jobs
  63. I want to put a ding in the universe. ~ Steve Jobs
  64. Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people. ~ Steve Jobs
  65. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. ~ Steve Jobs
  66. We believe people with Passion CAN change the World for the Better.” -Steve Jobs ~ Steve Jobs
  67. I’d been rejected, but I was still in love, so I decided to start over. ~ Steve Jobs
  68. I was in the parking lot, with the key in the car, and I thought to myself: If this is my last night on earth, would I rather spend it at a business meeting or with this woman? I ran across the parking lot, asked her if she’d have dinner with me. She said yes, we walked into town, and we’ve been together ever since. ~ Steve Jobs
  69. Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life. ~ Steve Jobs
  70. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. ~ Steve Jobs
  71. You’ve baked a really lovely cake, but then you’ve used dog shit for frosting. ~ Steve Jobs
  72. We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. ~ Steve Jobs
  73. Sometimes life hits with a brick in the head, don’t lose hope”.-Steve Jobs. ~ Steve Jobs
  74. Learn more and Know more. ~ Steve Jobs
  75. Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world usually do. ~ Steve Jobs
  76. 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. ~ Steve Jobs
  77. Creation is messy. You want genius, you get madness; two sides of the same coin. ~ Steve Jobs
  78. Taking LSD was a profound experience, one of the most important things in my life. LSD shows you that there’s another side to the coin, and you can’t remember it when it wears off, but you know it. It reinforced my sense of what was important—creating great things instead of making money, putting things back into the stream of history and of human consciousness as much as I could. ~ Steve Jobs
  79. If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making really great products, then the profits will follow. ~ Steve Jobs
  80. What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds. ~ Steve Jobs
  81. Everything around you that you call life was made up by people, and you can change it. ~ Steve Jobs
  82. If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you’ll be right. ~ Steve Jobs
  83. That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. [BusinessWeek, May 25 1998] ~ Steve Jobs
  84. Focus is saying no to 1,000 good ideas. ~ Steve Jobs
  85. Focusing is about saying No. ~ Steve Jobs
  86. We at Apple had forgotten who we were. One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are. ~ Steve Jobs
  87. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner v ~ Steve Jobs
  88. Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday. ~ Steve Jobs
  89. I don’t want to fail, of course. But even though I didn’t know how bad things really were, I still had a lot to think about before I said yes. I had to consider the implications for Pixar, for my family, for my reputation. I decided that I didn’t really care, because this is what I want to do. If I try my best and fail, well, I’ve tried my best. ~ Steve Jobs
  90. I think the world’s a better place because Bill realized that his goal isn’t to be the richest guy in the cemetery, right? ~ Steve Jobs
  91. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. ~ Steve Jobs
  92. 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. ~ Steve Jobs
  93. Great things in business are never done by one person.They are done by a team of people ~ Steve Jobs
  94. The Only Way to Do Great Work is To Love What You Do ~ Steve Jobs
  95. My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people. ~ Steve Jobs
  96. There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and iChat. That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas. ~ Steve Jobs
  97. It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to to , We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. ~ Steve Jobs
  98. You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out. ~ Steve Jobs
  99. stay hungry stay foolish ~ Steve Jobs
  100. Great things in business are never done by one person,They are done by a team of people ~ Steve Jobs
  101. One more thing… ~ Steve Jobs
  102. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. ~ Steve Jobs
  103. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do…. Don’t settle ~ Steve Jobs
  104. Stay hungry. Stay foolish. ~ Steve Jobs
  105. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. ~ Steve Jobs
  106. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. ~ Steve Jobs
  107. I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. ~ Steve Jobs
  108. If you live each day as it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right ~ Steve Jobs
  109. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”, 2005] ~ Steve Jobs
  110. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. ~ Steve Jobs
  111. 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 other’s 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. ~ Steve Jobs