如果今天就是你生命的最后一天：乔布斯的第三个故事——乔布斯

（单词翻译）

If today were the last day of my life——The third story of Jobs——The third story of Jobs

When I was 17, I read a quote that was something like: "If you live each day as if it wereyour last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then,for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today werethe last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever theanswer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to helpme make the big choices in life. Because almost everything-all external expectations, all pride, allfear of embarrassment¹ or failure-these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only whatis truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trapof thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked . There is no reason not to followyour heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer . I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and itclearly showed a tumor² on my pancreas . I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctorstold me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable³ , and that I should expect tolive no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs inorder, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything youthought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sureeverything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say yourgoodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis⁴ all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy , where they stuck anendoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines⁵ , put a needle into mypancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated⁶ , but my wife, who was there, told methat when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned outto be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'mfine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few moredecades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than whendeath was a useful but purely⁷ intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.

And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it shouldbe, because death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clearsout the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long fromnow, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic , but it isquite true.

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' opinionsdrown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart andintuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else issecondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, whichwas one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not farfrom here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic⁸ touch. This was in the late1960's, before personal computers and desktop⁹ publishing, so it was all made with typewriters,scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback¹⁰ form, 35 years beforeGoogle came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing¹¹ with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it hadrun its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the backcover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you mightfind yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous¹². Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry.

Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And Ihave always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

参考译文

如果今天就是你生命的最后一天——乔布斯的第三个故事——乔布斯

我十七岁时读到过一句话，大意是：“如果你把每一天都当作生命中最后一天去过，那么有一天你会走上人生的正轨。”这句话给我留下了深刻的印象。从那时起，之后33年的每天早晨，我都会对着镜子问自己：“假如今天是我生命中的最后一天，我会不会想要做今天本要做的事情？”只要连续很多天得到的答案都是“不”的时候，我就知道自己需要做些改变了。

牢记我即将死去是帮助我做出生命里重大决定的最重要手段。因为几乎所有的事情——所有外界的期待，所有的荣耀，所有对难堪和失败的恐惧——所有这些在死亡面前都不堪一击，剩下的才是真正重要的东西。牢记你即将死去是我知道的最好的方法，可以使你避开觉得有所损失的思维陷阱。当你已经一无所有、无牵无挂的时候，就没有理由不去追随自己的心声。

大约一年前，我被诊断出患有癌症。我在早晨七点半做了一个扫描，清楚地显示在我的胰腺有一个肿瘤。我当时甚至不知道胰腺是什么东西。医生告诉我，可以肯定那是一种无法治愈的癌症，我最多还可以活三到六个月。我的医生建议我回家，安顿好我的一切，那是医生对临终病人的暗示。那意味着要把在未来十年对你小孩说的话在短短几个月里说完。那意味着把每一件事都安排妥当，让你的家人会尽可能轻松地生活。那意味着说再见。

我拿着那份诊断书过了一整天，那天晚上我做了一个活体组织切片检查，医生将一个内窥镜从我的喉咙伸进去，通过我的胃，然后进入我的肠子，把一根针插进我的胰腺，在肿瘤上取了几个细胞。我当时被麻醉了，但我的妻子在那里。后来她告诉我，医生在显微镜下观察这些细胞时突然叫了起来，因为这是一种极其罕见的可以手术治愈的胰腺癌。我做了手术，现在我痊愈了。

那是我最接近死亡的时刻，我希望这也是在以后的几十年里我最接近死亡的一次。以前，死亡对于我只是一个有用的、但是仅限于知识层面的概念。从死亡线上活过来后，我现在可以更加确定地告诉你们：

没有人想死。即使是想上天堂的人，也不会为了期望而死。但死亡又是我们每个人共同的终点，从来没有人能够逃脱。死亡就应该这样。因为死亡很可能是生命最好的一个创造。死亡改变生命的因子，推陈出新。现在，你们是新人，但是不久之后，你们将会逐渐变老，然后被清除。很抱歉，这样说太戏剧性，却是事实。

你们的时间是有限的，所以不要把它浪费在重复他人的生活上。不要被教条束缚——那是生活在他人思维的产物之下。不要让他人喧嚣的观点淹没你自己内心的声音。最重要的是，你要有勇气去追随你的心声和直觉。在某种程度上，它们知道你想要变成什么样子，其他的事都是次要的。

我年轻时，有一本精彩的书，名叫《全球目录》，它是我们那代人的圣经之一。它由一个叫Stewart Brand的人创办，创办地点是离这里不远的门罗公园。他如诗一般的魔力让这本书异彩纷呈。那是二十世纪六十年代后期，还没有个人电脑和桌面出版，所以这本书全部是用打字机、剪刀还有偏光镜制作的。它有点像书本形式的Google，在真正的Google诞生的三十五年前，它是理想主义的，充满了灵巧的方法和非凡的想法。

Stewart和他的团队出版了几期《全球目录》，后来当它完成了自己的使命时，他们出版了最后一期。那是在二十世纪七十年代的中期，当时我和你们现在一样大。在最后一期的封底上是一条清晨乡间道路的照片，就是那种如果你喜欢探险，自己搭便车会去的路。

照片下方有这样一段话：求知若渴，大智若愚。这是他们停刊的告别语。求知若渴，大智若愚。这是我一直以来的座右铭。现在，在你们即将毕业，开始新的旅程的时候，我与你们共勉。

求知若渴，大智若愚。