Smithsonian Oral and Video Histories: Steve Jobs (Primary source)
A riveting testament to American ambition, capturing Jobs at a pivotal moment—exiled from Apple yet unbroken—reflecting on innovation, entrepreneurship, and the relentless pursuit of excellence that would define his second act.
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“The difference between a good software person and a great software person is fifty to one, twenty-five to fifty to one, huge dynamic range. Therefore, I have found, not just in software, but in everything I’ve done it really pays to go after the best people in the world. It’s painful when you have some people who are not the best people in the world and you have to get rid of them; but I found that my job has sometimes exactly been that to get rid of some people who didn’t measure up and I’ve always tried to do it in a humane way. But nonetheless it has to be done and it is never fun.”
Steve Jobs
“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.”
— Steve Jobs Primary source“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
— Steve Jobs Primary source“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 Primary source“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer—that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That‘s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
— Steve Jobs Secondary source“I’m afraid that’s the way it [reality] is. If there are twenty factors and they interact some, you’ll have to learn to handle it—because that’s the way the world is. But you won’t find it that hard if you go at it Darwin-like, step by step with curious persistence. You’ll be amazed at how good you can get.”
— Charlie Munger Primary source“People are islands,” she said. “They don’t really touch. However close they are, they’re really quite separate. Even if they’ve been married for fifty years.”
— Ian Fleming Primary source“Spanish girls make wonderful wives. I’ve never had one so I know.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary sourceThis case isn’t ripe yet. Until it is, our policy with Mr Big is “live and let live”.
Bond looked quizzically at Captain Dexter.
“In my job,” he said, “when I come up against a man like this one, I have another motto. It’s ‘live and let die’.”
Computer Programming Productivity Greatness