Steve Jobs' Iconic Speech at Stanford Now Available in Higher Quality - MacRumors
Skip to Content

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.

Popular Stories

steve jobs coin

Steve Jobs U.S. Commemorative $1 Coin Goes on Sale

Tuesday May 12, 2026 1:50 am PDT by
The United States Mint today began selling a new $1 American Innovation Coin featuring Steve Jobs, purchasable from the U.S. Mint website. The $1 Steve Jobs Coin features a young Steve Jobs in a turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers, sitting in front of the Northern California landscape. Jobs is said to be "captured in a moment of reflection," in which "his posture and expression reflect how this...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...

Top Rated Comments

vertsix Avatar
12 months 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)
blcamp Avatar
12 months 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)
DocMultimedia Avatar
12 months ago
Best speech ever.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vulkan Avatar
12 months ago
I miss Steve.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vertsix Avatar
12 months ago

**** you Tim. THIS is what you'll never be.
Well, yes, but why post this?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TwoBytes Avatar
12 months ago
A speech that should be delivered as education!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)