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Life has a habit of throwing you curve balls.
生活就像被抛出的球，你永远不能完全确定他的轨迹。
Tim Cook
（蒂姆·库克）
一个看似乏味、拿着MBA（工商管理硕士）文凭的管理者，一度做出了25年的人生规划的人，却在遇到乔布斯后，抛开一切，毅然地加入了当时业绩惨淡的苹果，最终成为新一代苹果教主——他就是蒂姆·库克（Tim Cook）。
“永远活在当下，不仅仅因为我的父母为我牺牲了很多本不该牺牲的东西；与此同时，我的老师、教授、朋友以及导师都给予了我太多的关怀，而苹果公司和乔布斯则让我在此度过了我人生中最有意义的12年。”
这些都是苹果首席运营官（COO）蒂姆·库克在应其母校美国阿拉巴马州奥本大学（Auburn University）之邀发表演讲时讲到的。库克在演讲中分享了他与乔布斯的五分钟面谈，相信自己的直觉并决定加入苹果公司的经历。库克是在乔布斯于1997年重返苹果后，于1998年从Compaq（康柏）挖角而来。根据库克自己的说法，加入苹果的决定全凭直觉，完全与其他友人的劝告和本身理性的分析相违背，但他认为加入苹果是他此生迄今为止所做过的最佳决定。
对于这个在乔布斯的巨大光环之下的苹果CEO（蒂姆·库克2011年接替乔布斯担任苹果公司CEO），到底是怎样的一个CEO呢？也许从他的演讲中可以一窥究竟。
蒂姆·库克（Tim Cook）是苹果现任首席执行官。曾担任苹果公司首席运营官，负责苹果公司的全球销售和运营，包括终端到终端的苹果的供应链、销售活动、服务和在所有市场和国家的支持下进行管理。他还领导苹果公司的Macintosh（麦金托什）部门并发挥在战略分销商和供应商关系中的关键作用，确保应对日益苛刻的市场的灵活性。库克在阿拉巴马州奥本大学主修工业工程，然后在杜克大学获得企业管理硕士学位。1998年苹果公司聘请蒂姆·库克负责苹果电脑的制造。在任职于苹果期间，库克管理库存与供应链，并成为乔布斯下的苹果二号人物。此前，库克已经拥有16年IT业从业经验。
Tim Cook, COO of Apple Auburn University May 14th，2010
“Thank you for that nice reception and thank you Virginia for the incredible introduction. I thought some of them were about somebody else.It's a tremendous honor and a privilege for me to be here with all of you.To be back to a place that really feels like home to me, and to be back to a place that brings back so many fond memories.Auburn has played a key role in my life and continues to mean a lot to me, as anyone who comes in my offce at Apple or my home in Palo Alto instantly discovers.I have so much Auburn memorabilia you might think it was a California outpost for J&M or Anders.
As thrilled as I am to be here, I stand before you knowing that the lives of many people here and even more across our state and beyond are deeply affected by the tragedy off our shores. I grew up on the Gulf Coast and my family still lives there and I want you to know that my thoughts and hopes are with you.
Also as thrilled as I am to be here, I stand before you with a deep sense of humility both because of how I got here and who is here. I am where I am in life because my parents sacrifced more than they should have.Because of teachers, professors, friends and mentors who cared more than they had to.And because of Steve Jobs and Apple who have provided me the opportunity to engage in truly meaningful work every day for over 12 years.And I know that I'm offering words of advice in front of a faculty whose ideas and research positively impact our lives.And I do so in a gathering where the faculty is complemented by the hard-won wisdom of so many parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents that have been a source of incredible inspiration for today's graduates.
So bearing all that in mind, I'll share some personal discoveries with you that have at least served me well, discoveries based on this most improbable of journeys that I have been on.
My most significant discovery so far in my life was the result of one single decision：My decision to join Apple. Working at Apple was never in any plan that I'd outlined for myself, but was without a doubt the best decision that I ever made.There have been other important decisions in my life, like my decision to come to Auburn.When I was in high school, some teachers advised me to attend Auburn, other teachers advised me to attend the university of Alabama and, well, like I said some decisions are pretty obvious.The decision to come to Apple which I made in early 1998 was not so obvious.Since most of you graduates were 10 years old at the time, you may not realize that the Apple in early 1998 was very different than the Apple of today.In 1998 there was no iPad or iMac or iPhone, there wasn't even an iPod-I know it's hard to imagine life without iPods.While Apple did make Macs, the company had been losing sales for years and was commonly considered to be on the verge of extinction.Only a few months before I'd accepted the job at Apple, Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Computer, was publicly asked what he would do to fx Apple, and he responded“I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.”In making this statement what distinguished Michael Dell was only that he had the courage to say what so many others believed.
So Apple was in a very different place than it is today, and my employer at the time, Compaq Computer, was the largest personal computer company in the world. Not only was Compaq performing much better than Apple, it was headquartered in Texas and therefore closer to Auburn football.Any purely rational consideration of cost and benefits lined up in Compaq's favor, and the people who knew me best advised me to stay at Compaq.One CEO I consulted felt so strongly about it he told me I would be a fool to leave Compaq for Apple.
In making the decision to come to Apple, I had to think beyond my training as an engineer. Engineers are taught to make decisions analytically and largely without emotion when it comes to a decision between alternatives we enumerate the cost and benefts and decide which one is better.But there are times in our lives when the careful consideration of cost and benefts just doesn't seem like the right way to make a decision.There are times in all of our lives when a reliance on gut or intuition just seems more appropriate—when a particular course of action just feels right.And interestingly I've discovered it's in facing life's most important decisions that intuition seems the most indispensable to getting it right.
In turning important decisions over to intuition one has to give up on the idea of developing a life plan that will bear any resemblance to what ultimately unfolds. Intuition is something that occurs in the moment, and if you are open to it, if you listen to it, it has the potential to direct or redirect you in a way that is best for you.On that day in early 1998 I listened to my intuition, not the left side of my brain or for that matter even the people who knew me best.It's hard to know why I listened, I'm not even sure I know today, but no more than fve minutes into my initial interview with Steve, I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and join Apple.My intuition already knew that joining Apple was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for the creative genius, and to be on the executive team that could resurrect a great American company.If my intuition had lost the struggle with my left brain, I'm not sure where I would be today, but I'm certain I would not be standing in front of you.
This was a surprising lesson. I recall how uncertain I was at my own commencement about where my life would lead.There was a part of me that very much wanted to have a 25-year plan as a guide to life.When I went to business school, we even had an exercise to do a 25-year plan.I found mine, now 22 years old, in preparing for this commencement address.Let's just say it wasn't worth the yellowed paper it was written on.I didn't understand it then as a young MBA student, but life has a habit of throwing you curve balls.Don't get me wrong—it's good to plan for the future, but if you’re like me and you occasionally want to swing for the fences, you can’t count on a predictable life.But even if you can’t plan, you can prepare.A great batter doesn’t know when the high-hanging curve ball is going to come, but he knows it will.And he can prepare for what he will do when he gets it.
Too often people think about intuition as the same as relying on luck or faith. At least as I see it, nothing could be further from the truth.Intuition can tell you that of the doors that are open to you, which one you should walk through.But intuition cannot prepare you for what's on the other side of that door.Along these lines a quote that has always resonated with me is one by Abraham Lincoln.He said“I will prepare, and some day my chance will come.”I have always believed this.It was this basic belief that led me to Auburn to study industrial engineering, led me to co-op alternating quarters while attending Auburn, led me to Duke to study business, and led me to accept so many jobs and assignments that are too numerous to mention.
In business as in sports, the vast majority of victories are determined before the beginning of the game. We rarely control the timing of opportunities, but we can control our preparation.I feel Lincoln's quote is especially appropriate now, given the state of the economy and the worry that I suspect a number of you must feel.I had the same worry when I graduated in 1982（yes, I am prehistoric, for the record）.But as many of the parents here will remember, the economy then bore some strong similarities to the economy today.The unemployment rate was in the double digits, we didn't have the collapse of Wall Street banks but we did have the savings and loan crisis.I worried, as many of my classmates did, what the future held for them.
But what was true for Lincoln was true for those of us who graduated in 1982，and it is true for those of you graduating today. Prepare and your chance will come.Just as all previous generations have done, you will stand on the shoulders of the generation that came before you.The generation of mine and your parents.And you will achieve more and go farther.The fact that you are here now at this great institution, in this great state, at this great moment for both you and your families is a testament to the fact that your preparation has begun.Continue to prepare yourselves as you have at Auburn, so when your gut tells you“this is my moment”，you are without a doubt ready.
If you are prepared, when the right door opens, then it comes down to just one more thing：Make sure that your execution lives up to your preparation. At least for me the second sentence of the Auburn creed，“I believe in work, hard work”really resonates here and has been one of my core beliefs for as long as I can remember.Though the sentiment is a simple one, there's tremendous dignity and wisdom in these words, and they have stood the test of time.
As current events teach us, those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves, or worse, deceive others. I have the good fortune to be surrounded by some brilliant, intuitive thinkers who create the most elegant and extraordinary products in the world.For all of us intuition is not a substitute for rigorous thinking and hard work：It is simply the lead-in.We never take shortcuts.We attend to every detail.We follow where curiosity leads, aware that the journey may be longer but will ultimately be more worthwhile.We take risks knowing that risk will sometimes result in failure.But without the possibility of failure, there is no possibility of success.We remember Albert Einstein's words：“insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.”When you put it all together, I know this：Intuition is critical in virtually everything you do, but without relentless preparation and execution, it is meaningless.
So those are my discoveries on the signifcance of intuition, preparation and hard work. For me they give rise to a simple principle for the most important decisions in your life：Trust your intuition and then work with everything you have to prove it right.
Logic probably dictates that I end my remarks here, but as I've said sometimes logic shouldn't prevail, and so I have one last brief discovery to share with you. I think it is misleading to talk about success without also referencing failure.I know of no one who has achieved something signifcant without also in their own lives experiencing their share of hardship, frustration and regret.So don't believe that something in your past prevents you from doing great work in the future.To all of you who doubt yourselves, I have been there too, and although today I've spent time talking about a great decision, I've made some that are far from it.And like many of you I’ve had my share of life’s personal challenges and failures.But after many miles on my journey I recognize that each of these diffcult periods of life passes, and with each we exit stronger and wiser.The old saying“This, too, shall pass”has certainly proven true for me and I’m sure it’ll hold true for anyone who believes it.
So paint in your mind the most grand vision where you want to go in life. Prepare, trust in, and execute on your intuition.And don't get distracted by life's potholes.Congratulations, class of 2010，this is your day.This is your moment.You've received a frst class education, from a frst class institution.Congratulations to your families and friends who have supported you.And as important as this day is, make sure that you carry the Auburn spirit in the weeks, months and years ahead.Let your joy be in your journey-not in some distant goal.And regardless of where your particular journey may lead you from this moment forward, thank you for allowing me to play a small part in today.”
——蒂姆·库克，苹果首席运营官，在阿拉巴马州奥本大学的演讲
2010年5月14日
“谢谢大家，谢谢弗吉尼亚这么卖力地推销我。我一度以为她讲的是别人。今天能够与各位相聚于此，令我感到万分的荣幸。我好像又重新回到了一个如家一样温暖的地方了，回到这里让我那些温馨的记忆又重新燃烧了起来。奥本大学在我的人生之中起了一个异常关键的作用，直到现在它依然对我影响深远，每一个来到我苹果办公室或者帕洛阿尔托的家的人们会马上意识到这点。我的确拥有无数与奥本大学有关的纪念品，你会认为那是J&M和Anders的店铺里的。
站在这里我感到如此激动，你们一定都听说了那场发生在墨西哥湾的灾难，它曾给在座许多人的生活甚至是我们全州及外州等地区带来严重冲击。我在墨西哥湾长大，直到现在，我的家人仍然生活在那里，所以我希望你们理解我与你们的愿望和想法是一致的。
站在这里我是如此的激动，同样我也抱着谦逊的态度站在这里。因为我知道我是怎样才走到这个地方的，也明白在这里的都是谁。我之所以能在这里是因为我的父母为我做出了巨大的牺牲；是因为我的老师、教授、朋友以及导师他们对我的无限付出。也因为史蒂夫·乔布斯以及他的苹果公司给我提供机会。让我在12年里每天都可以专注于一份有意义的工作。同时我也明白，正在听我演讲的人的思想、研究对我们的生活也产生了积极的影响。我必须谦逊，因为这里有着许多学生的父母甚至祖辈们，他们为我们的毕业生提供了难以置信的灵感的源泉。
正因为心中承载了这些，我将在这里与你们分享我的个人心得，至少这些对我有过不少帮助。而这些心得来自我人生最难忘的旅程。
迄今为止我生命中最有意义的发现就是一个单纯的决定而得到好的结果：我决定加入苹果公司。
到苹果工作从未出现在我的人生规划中，但是这却无疑成为我生命中做过的最好的决定。当然还有其他的重要的决定，比如我决定来奥本大学上学。当我上高中的时候，学校里的一部分老师建议我考奥本大学，而另一部分却建议我考阿拉巴马大学，就像我说的，有些决定是顺其自然的。比如早在1998年我决定加入苹果就不是这样。当时的你们只有10岁而已，不可能意识到当时的苹果与现在的苹果有着多大的差异。在1998年，那时的苹果还没有iPad，也没有iMac，更没有iPhone，甚至没有iPod，我知道现在的你们很难想象没有iPod、iMac甚至iPhone的生活。虽然苹果开始生产Mac，但是那时候苹果公司的销售额却是逐年减少，而且被普遍认为处于破产的边缘。就在我准备接受到苹果的工作的前几个月，戴尔的创始人——戴尔公司CEO, Michael Dell，曾在公开场合被询问如何拯救苹果公司，他回答说，“我会把它关掉，然后把钱还给股东。”虽然这种话只有Michael Dell有勇气说出，但是他却说出了当时大多数人的想法。
所以当时的苹果公司相对于今天的人来说，处在非常尴尬的位置，那时候我供职于康柏公司，它曾经是世界上最大的个人电脑生产商。那时候康柏公司的销售额不仅远远好过苹果公司，而且他的总部设于德州，它离奥本大学的球场很近。如果当时出于纯理性收益与成本的考虑，我应该会选择留在康柏，而且我的朋友们也认为我应该留在康柏。一个CEO也曾坚定地告诉我，如果我为了苹果公司而离开康柏是非常愚蠢的。
在为是否加入苹果公司而做决定时，我不得不跳出工程师的思维方式。工程师通常做的决定是富有逻辑性的，而且很大程度上不受感情的影响。当我们需要选择的时候，我们会把成本和收益列举出来选择较好的一个。但是在我们生活中，有时候通过列举成本与收益而做出选择似乎不一定是最好的。在我们的人生道路上，偶尔依据直觉行事似乎更棒。很有意思的是，我发现在面临人生最重要的抉择时，直觉似乎是让你做出正确选择的最不可或缺的东西。
依靠直觉做出重要决定时，你必须放弃原有的人生规划，这些规划也可能与最后想要的结果有或多或少的相似之处。但是如果你接受直觉，那么它就是瞬间发生的事情。如果你听从直觉的安排，那么它很有可能将你引向对你最有益的人生旅程。在1998年的某一天，我相信了我的直觉，而不是经过左脑的思考或者听从我最好的朋友的建议。也许我很难解释为什么我会选择相信直觉。直到今天，我仍然得不到答案，但是与史蒂夫的第一次面谈，那次不到五分钟的面试后，我想我应该放弃我的担心和头脑中的理性而加入苹果公司。因为我的直觉告诉我，加入苹果公司也许是我人生中唯一一次与创造性天才一起工作的机会，并成为振兴这个伟大的美国科技公司的执行委员会的一员。如果当年我的理性战胜了直觉，那么我真的不确定今日我会在哪里，但是可以确定的是，我不会站在这里、站在你们面前了。
这是多么激动的一课！这令我想起我在毕业典礼上所作的那篇对迷茫未来的演讲。对于那时的我来说，我非常希望能有一个未来25年的计划来指导我的人生。所以当我进入商学院的时候，我们曾试过制订一个25年的人生规划。在准备这次演讲时，我找到了我当时的规划，已经过去22年了。对于此，我想说的是，这些东西根本不值得用那些泛黄的纸张记录下来，当我还是年轻的MBA学生时，我并未理解这一点。生活就像被抛出的球，你永远不能完全确定它的轨迹。也许有很多人在质疑我，因为他们相信计划后的未来会更加美好，但是如果你像我一样，偶尔也想为某件事孤注一掷，那么你的人生就是不可预测的！虽然你不能规划人生，但是你仍然可以为你的人生做准备。一个优秀的击球手从来不知道什么时候球会飞来，但是他知道它会来。所以他会为他将要做的事做好一切准备。
有太多的人认为直觉就像依赖运气与信仰一样，至少据我所知，事实并非如此。直觉会告诉你生命中为你打开的门有哪些。但是直觉无法告诉你在你进入那扇门之后会发生什么样的事情。每当说到这里，我耳边总是响起亚伯拉罕·林肯说过的一句话：“我总会为将要来临的机会做好准备。”我始终坚信这一点。这个基本的信仰引导着我来到奥本大学学习工业管理学，引导着我在奥本大学加入了合作学习项目，引导我去杜克大学商学院学习，更引导着我做了许多难以表述的工作。
商业竞争如同体育比赛，绝大多数比赛结果在比赛开始之前就决定了。我们极少能控制机遇的到来，但是我们可以为此做更加充分的准备。鉴于当前的经济发展和你们大多数人的忧心，我更加认定林肯的话是非常正确的。当然我在1982年刚毕业时也有过同样的担心。但是在座的家长可能会记得，那时候的经济与现在也极为相似。当时的失业率是两位数，华尔街的银行虽然没有倒闭，但是也确实已经进入了金融危机。我与我的同学们都很担心我们的未来。
但是，林肯的这句话不仅仅适用于1982年的毕业生们，同样也适用于今天毕业的你们。做好准备，你的机会就会降临。正如我们所有前辈的经历一样，你们将会站在上一代人——我以及你们父辈的肩膀上。所以你们将会走得更远、取得更大的成就。现在，你们在这个伟大的学府中学习，生活在这个伟大的国家，你和你的家庭正经历着这个伟大的时代，这些就是需要你们做好准备的最大证明。那么继续准备吧，就像你们在奥本大学读书的时候，你的直觉告诉你：你的时刻来临时，你已经做好了充分的准备。
如果你已经做好了准备，当正确的门打开，机会来临时，你的成就有多大，一切都将取决于你做的准备有多充分。至少对我而言，林肯的第二句至理名言是：“我相信工作，坚信努力工作！”这句话对我产生了不小的共鸣，这也成为了我的信条之一。即使这句话听起来也许简单，但是它却包含了极大的智慧，足以经受住时间的考验。
正如现在的一些事教导我们，那些渴望成功但是从未努力工作过的人，只是自欺欺人。幸运的是，我身边围绕着一群富有智慧凭直觉行事的思想者们，他们创造出了世界上最杰出、最非凡的产品。对于所有人来说，直觉并不能代替我们的严谨思考和努力工作。它只能简单地指引方向。我们永远没有捷径可走，我们必须关注每一个细节。让我们追随好奇心，这条路虽然很长，但是你最终会发现一切都是值得的。我们明知有风险并会最终导致失败，但却甘愿冒着风险前进。如果没有机会失败就不可能有机会成功。爱因斯坦曾经说过：“疯狂就是重复做一件事情，期望得到不同的结果。”综上所述，直觉对我们做的每一件事情都具有重大影响，但如果没有做好充分的准备就付诸实施，一切就没有任何意义。
这些都是我对于直觉、准备、认真工作的重要性的发现。对于我来说它们教会我一个简单的原理——做生命中最重要的决定时相信直觉，努力去做，证明其正确性。它将对你们人生最重要的决定起着重大影响。
按照这样的逻辑，我的演讲应该就此结束了，但是就像我刚才所说，有些时候逻辑是不生效的。所以我把另一个发现简短地分享给你们。我认为抛开失败只谈成功会误导大家。我知道没有一个人可以在一生中不经历任何困难、挫败和后悔就能取得了重大的成功。所以不要认为你的过去会影响你在未来成就一番事业。对于那些怀疑自己的人们——我也曾经这样，即使现在的我仍需要花费很多时间去讨论如何做出重要的决定，即使如此我还是做出过一些错误的决定。像你们一样，我的人生中也充满了各种挑战与失败。但是经历了漫长的旅程，我意识到每一个困难时期都会过去，每一个胜出的人都是智者与强者。一位老人曾经说过：“一切都会过去。”这句话已被我的经历所验证。所以我可以明确地告诉在座的各位，相信这句话不会有错！
所以请在头脑中勾画出人生道路的最宏伟蓝图，随时做好准备，相信并追随自己的直觉，不要被生活的困难打到。恭喜你们，2010届毕业生们，今天，是你们的时刻，你们已经在一流的学府中接受了一流的教育。恭喜你们和支持你们的家人和朋友。重要的是请你们在生命的旅程中始终保持着奥本精神。请从身边的小事开始享受你的人生旅程，无论从此刻起，人生之路会将你们指引向何方。谢谢各位来聆听今天的演讲。谢谢！
·I stand before you with a deep sense of humility both because of how I got here and who is here. I am where I am in life because my parents sacrifced more than they should have.Because of teachers, professors, friends, and mentors who cared more than they had to.
我必须抱着谦逊的态度站在这里。因为我知道我是怎样才走到这个地方的也明白在这里的都有谁。我之所以能在这里是因为我的父母为我做出了巨大的牺牲；是因为我的老师、教授、朋友以及导师他们对我的无限付出。
·Engineers are taught to make decisions analytically and largely without emotion. When it comes to a decision between alternatives we enumerate the cost and benefts and decide which one is better.But there are times in our lives when the careful consideration of cost and benefts just doesn't seem like the right way to make a decision.
工程师通常做出的决定是富有逻辑性的，而且很大程度上不受感情因素影响。当我们遇到选择的时候，我们会把成本和收益列举出来，并且选择哪一个较好。但是在我们生活中，有时候通过列举成本与收益而做出选择似乎并不是最好的。
·There are times in all of our lives when a reliance on gut or intuition just seems more appropriate-when a particular course of action just feels right.
在我们的人生道路上，偶尔依据直觉行事似乎更合适。
·In turning important decisions over to intuition one has to give up on the idea of developing a life plan that will bear any resemblance to what ultimately unfolds. Intuition is something that occurs in the moment, and if you are open to it, if you listen to it, it has the potential to direct or redirect you in a way that is best for you.
依靠直觉做出重要决定时，你必须放弃原有的人生规划，这些规划也可能与最后想要的结果有或多或少的相似之处。如果你接受直觉，那么它就是在瞬间发生的事情。如果你听从直觉的安排，那么它很有可能将你引向对你最有益的人生旅程。
·But even if you can't plan, you can prepare. A great batter doesn't know when the high-hanging curve ball is going to come, but he knows it will.And he can prepare for what he will do when he gets it.
虽然你不能计划人生，但是你仍然可以为你的人生做准备。一个优秀的击球手从来不曾知道什么时候球会飞来，但是他知道它会来。所以他会为他将要做的做好一切准备。
·Intuition can tell you that of the doors that are open to you, which one you should walk through. But intuition cannot prepare you for what's on the other side of that door.
直觉会告诉你生命中为你打开的门有哪些。但是直觉无法告诉你在你进入那扇门之后会发生什么样的事情。
·In business as in sports, the vast majority of victories are determined before the beginning of the game. We rarely control the timing of opportunities, but we can control our preparation.
商业竞争如同体育比赛，绝大多数比赛结果在比赛开始之前就决定了。我们极少能控制机遇的到来，但是我们可以为此做更加充分的准备。
·If you are prepared, when the right door opens then it comes down to just one more thing：Make sure that your execution lives up to your preparation.
如果你已经做好了准备，当正确的门打开，机会来临时，你的成就有多大都将取决于你做的准备有多充分。
·Those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves, or worse, deceive others.
那些渴望成功但是从未努力工作的人，最终都是自欺欺人。
·We never take shortcuts. We attend to every detail.We follow where curiosity leads, aware that the journey may be longer but will ultimately be more worthwhile.We take risks knowing that risk will sometimes result in failure.But without the possibility of failure, there is no possibility of success.
我们永远没有捷径可走，我们必须关注每一个细节。让我们追随好奇心，要懂得这条路虽然很长，但是最终会发现一切都是值得的。我们明知风险并会最终导致失败，但却甘愿冒着风险前进。如果没有机会失败就不可能成功。
·Trust your intuition and then work with everything you have to prove it right.
相信直觉，努力去做，证明其正确性。
·I know of no one who has achieved something significant without also in their own lives experiencing their share of hardship, frustration, and regret. So don't believe that something in your past prevents you from doing great work in the future.
我知道没有一个人可以在一生中不经历任何困难、挫败和后悔就能取得重大的成功。所以不要认为你的过去会影响你在未来成就一番事业。
·So paint in your mind the most grand vision where you want to go in life. Prepare, trust in, and execute on your intuition.And don't get distracted by life's potholes.
可以在头脑中勾画出人生道路的宏伟蓝图，随时做好准备，相信并追随自己的直觉。不要被生活的困难打倒。
苹果沉浮兴衰的故事，堪称世间少有。作为“苹果”创始人，乔布斯改变了一个时代，在事业巅峰时他惨遭流放，跌到地狱，却在12年后卷土重来。尽管这种成功不可复制，但苹果重创新、挖需求、降价格、联伙伴等商业经营模式对人们深有借鉴意义。只有持续创新，才可能改变世界。
苹果也好，微软也好，他们在成长中都经历了山寨的过程。在大公司林立的高科技领域中，大公司往往能获取更多的资源驱动研发。而小公司，却靠山寨的精神驱动变革，这一点在乔布斯的口里，被誉为“海盗精神”。当盖茨去乔布斯公司参观的时候，看到苹果员工的办公桌子上摆着海盗旗，乔布斯的解释是“……与其参加海军，不如成为海盗……”海盗精神被赋予了更广泛的意义，创新、颠覆传统、破坏现有的游戏规则……正是这种精神成就了苹果。当我们还在争论中国山寨问题的时候，你会发现当年微软和苹果，就是最大的山寨。盖茨回敬乔布斯的质疑的时候，曾讲过所有的汽车都有方向盘，但没有人试图声称方向盘是他们的发明，而乔布斯也引用毕加索的一句话“好的艺术家复制，伟大的艺术家偷窃”来为自己开脱。
苹果聚集了大量的技术天才、艺术天才，反叛、创新、不向权贵和权威低头是他们的标志，苹果的员工个个聪明绝顶，才华横溢，个性张狂，但是叛经逆道，不怕失败，已经成为苹果的文化和信条，而正是这种信条成为苹果不断创新的源泉。
在偏执的乔布斯被董事会一脚踢开亲手创建的苹果的时候，也是苹果最低迷的时候，当乔布斯再次归来的时候，艺术精神与艺术气质再次回归苹果，从IPOD, ISHUFFLE, INANO，再到IPHONE，每个产品都是科技与艺术的完美结合，乔布斯认为，天才的东西是给天才用的，艺术的东西要由懂行的艺术家来收藏和呵护，苹果的每一件产品都是艺术品，而人类最终的归宿是艺术。