“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.”
Steve Jobs
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“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
— 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“You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”
— Ernest Hemingway 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 source“There isn’t always an explanation for everything.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary sourceComputer Programming Productivity Greatness