Steve Jobs' Iconic Speech at Stanford Now Available in Higher Quality

Apple CEO Tim Cook has reminded us that today marks the 20th anniversary of Steve Jobs giving an iconic commencement address at Stanford University.

Steve Jobs Stanford
"It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since Steve told Stanford graduates to stay hungry and stay foolish," said Cook, in a social media post reflecting on the impactful speech. "His powerful advice still rings true, and I hope it helps guide this year's new grads as they begin their journey to become tomorrow's leaders."

To honor the 20th anniversary of the speech, The Steve Jobs Archive has uploaded a higher-quality video of the speech on its website and YouTube.

The Steve Jobs Archive has also provided more backstory about Jobs' commencement address and how he prepared for it leading up to June 12, 2005. In the weeks leading up to the commencement, he emailed himself speech ideas.

Jobs' speech was full of iconic quotes and moments:

  • "Stay hungry, stay foolish."
  • "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."
  • "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."
  • "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."
  • "If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them."

Hilariously, Jobs also told the crowd of graduates that dropping out of college was one of the best decisions that he ever made in his life.

Watch the full speech below, now in enhanced quality.

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Top Rated Comments

vertsix Avatar
20 weeks ago
Probably the best speech ever made. I watch it every couple months to remind myself on what is important.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DocMultimedia Avatar
20 weeks ago
Best speech ever.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blcamp Avatar
20 weeks ago
Absolutely as timely today as it was 20 years ago, and probably will be for decades to come at the very least. As I look backwards on my own tech career which I'm now winding down, I'm glad to have followed much of Jobs' advice.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vulkan Avatar
20 weeks ago
I miss Steve.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TwoBytes Avatar
20 weeks ago
A speech that should be delivered as education!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TigerNike23 Avatar
20 weeks ago

Well, yes, but why post this?
I agree. It’s wholly unnecessary. Let’s focus on Steve instead of comparing to current Apple leadership.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)