Here’s to the Crazy Ones

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Love him or loathe him, Steve Jobs changed the world. I interviewed an ex-Apple employee last week who said Steve was both feared and worshipped in equal measure. He also reiterated reports that Apple was months from bankruptcy when Steve returned in 1997, and that he was the only person capable of turning the company around, which he did… spectacularly.

However you felt about him, Steve Jobs created a legacy that lives well beyond his death on this day in 2011. To celebrate his life, here are some of my favourite quotes from the man himself.

On Living Life to its Fullest

“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? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”

“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.”

“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.”

Believing in Yourself

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become.”

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life and karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”