1. 25 Steve Jobs Quotes That Will Change the Way You Work—in the
Best Way Possible
By Kaitlyn Russell
Fact: Steve Jobs didn’t become successful overnight.
It took years of hard work, determination, and perseverance to build Apple
into the company that it is today. When you take a step back from your
MacBook (and put down your iPhone), and really think about all that he
accomplished, it’s beyond remarkable. He changed the way we live.
Thanks to his many lectures and speeches, we have a glimpse into his day-to-
day work ethic and how he managed to do as much as he did. And, in order to
help you reach your career goals, we’ve rounded up 25 of his best quotes. Read
them, be inspired by them, and then get out there and make your dreams
come true.
My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most
precious resource we all have is time.
I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done.
Innovation is saying no to a thousand things.
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.
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what
you truly want to become.

2. I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do
something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them
quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to
use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will
see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on
the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be
carried all the way through.
That’s been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than
complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two
doubles.
Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night
saying we’ve done something wonderful...that’s what matters to me.
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones
who do.
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.
We’re just enthusiastic about what we do.
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking
backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your

3. future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.
This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my
life.
Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where
excellence is expected.
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.
I'm convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from
the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.
What is Apple, after all? Apple is about people who think ‘outside the box,’ people
who want to use computers to help them change the world, to help them create
things that make a difference, and not just to get a job done.
Things don’t have to change the world to be important.
Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that
they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful
things with them.
I’ve always been attracted to the more revolutionary changes. I don’t know why.
Because they’re harder. They’re much more stressful emotionally. And you
usually go through a period where everybody tells you that you’ve completely
failed.
Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in
my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or
so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you
could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my

4. intelligence.
My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others’
negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater
than the sum of the parts.
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.
Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.
The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a
beginner again. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.