演讲稿是为了在会议或重要活动上表达自己意见、看法或汇报思想工作情况而事先准备好的文稿。在社会发展不断提速的今天，在很多情况下我们需要用到演讲稿，你所见过的演讲稿是什么样的呢？以下是小编收集整理的英文的演讲稿，希望能够帮助到大家。
Everyone has their own ideals, I also have my own ideals.
My dreams of being a primary school teacher. Because I think make a good teacher is not easy, but I think the teacher is a candle burning himself, lighting up the others; teacher is a hard gardener, nurturing the flowers of the motherland; teachers are silkworms, dedication themselves, others decorated; teacher is a piece of chalk, the expense of their own, leaving a knowledge ... ... So, I worship the teacher.
If my vision a reality. I will let students escape the trouble of learning. I will put what I will patiently teach them, I not only want to teach my students the knowledge, I have students taught me how to life, enabling them to become all-round development of good student, a backbone of the country. Let students have a love and a wide breadth of human kindness should not worry about the small stuff. As the saying goes: person remember the good, forget the person too. Students should learn to forgive others, and give them a chance of rehabilitation. I will teach them to respect teachers, polite, continue to carry forward the Chinese nation, the United States and Germany, doing a little qualified citizens. Teach them honesty, that we will not break your promises, and told them the story of the Soong Ching Ling honest kid, so that they can be educated, to do a good honest students.
This is my ideal. I like my teacher to be the same, the trouble with my knowledge to irrigate flowers of the motherland.
"Double 11" has been in the past for a while, and soon "Double 12" will come again. Taobao Tmall or other major e-commerce companies are going to use this as a gimmick to promote again. Many consumers should be eager to move again and can't bear their shopping mood.
I didn't buy a single thing on "Double 11", because I think this is just a trick made by merchants to attract everyone's attention, and the goods are actually not much cheaper. Some merchants raise the price of goods, and then discount, consumers see the discount is so large, think that they have picked up cheap, crazy shopping, in fact, in the end the merchant made a lot of money. No matter how smart the consumer, he is not savvy.
Many consumers stay up late to grab things in their hands, and when they get them, they are extremely disappointed, poor quality, and completely different from what they imagined. At this time, if you want to return the goods, and catch up with the logistics peak, a product cannot be returned for seven days and eight days, occupying energy and time.
During the "Double 11" period, everyone gathered together and discussed 'what I grabbed again, and I could only echo it.' Because I really can't be interested in a festival like "Singles' Day". What Singles' Day is to stimulate consumers to shop.
But then again, this is also a need of the market, stimulating consumption and driving economic development. I did not persuade or block the shopping spree of the people around me taking advantage of the "Double 11" shopping spree, because everyone has everyone's ideas and everyone's interests. This is a pleasure, a pleasure, a spiritual pleasure in the eyes of others, so why should you blame and force others. "Double 12" I still will not rush to buy any so-called preferential products on the Internet, I want to be a rational consumer, reasonable consumption, planned consumption, so that I can buy satisfactory and beautiful price goods.
“双十一”过去有一段时间了，马上“双十二”又要来了。淘宝天猫或其他的各大电商又要以此为噱头进行促销了。很多消费者应该又会蠢蠢欲动，按耐不住自己购物的心情了。
“双十一”我一件东西也没有买，因为我觉得这只是商家为了博大家眼球使的小花招，商品实际并没有便宜多少。有的商家把商品的价格提高，然后再进行打折，消费者看到打的折扣那么大，以为捡到了便宜，疯狂的购物，其实最后还是商家赚的盆满钵满。不管多么聪明的消费者，都是精明不过商家的。
许多消费者“双十一”熬夜抢来的东西，拿到手里，都是失望之极，质量差，跟想象中的`完全不一样。这时候想要退货，又赶上物流高峰，一件商品七天八天都退不回去，占精力占时间。
“双十一”时大家凑在一起，讨论的全是自己又抢到了什么，我只有随声附和。因为我实在是对于“双十一”这种不洋不中的节日提不起兴趣。什么光棍节，都是刺激消费者购物。
不过话说回来，这也是市场的一种需要，刺激消费，带动经济发展。身边的人趁“双十一”疯狂购物的行为，我并没有进行劝说或阻拦，因为每个人有每个人的想法，每个人有每个人的兴趣。这在别人看来是一种乐趣，一种享受，一种精神的愉悦，你又何必横加指责，勉强别人呢。“双十二”我依然不会疯狂抢购什么网上所谓的优惠商品，我要做一个理性的消费者，合理消费，计划消费，这样才能既买称心如意而且价格美丽的商品。
Hello, everyone!
We all know Tagore.This famous Indian poet once said, “Life is given to us, and we earn it by giving it.” As the saying goes, nature is given to us, and we earn it by contributing to it. However, most people nowadays just want to ask for more from the nature. In fact, they do very little contribution to the nature. Therefore, the environment around us is becoming worse and worse.
Do you often use batteriesThen do you know it takes 50 times more energy to make them than they produceAnd just one simple battery can pollute as much water as a person can drink in his whole life. The facts and figures are amazing. So would you please try to use batteries only when it is necessaryIf possible, give the used ones to the recycling companies so that they will be made into new ones and won’t be able to pollute the environment any more.
Sometimes we become complacent when it comes to recycling, but when you speak in terms of actual facts and figures that everybody can understand, people become much clearer about the problem.
We, as school students, can also join in recycling activities to protect the environment. For example, our class set up a recycling
center beside the back door, it is very useful. It is used to collect the waste paper and plastic bottles. In the past, our classmates used to throw all of these into the trashcan. At the very beginning of this collecting activity, it was not so warm-welcomed. Later, more and more people were influenced by the others and joined this collecting activity. Gradually, all the students in our class form a good habit to protect the environment. All of us will now put away the reusable things instead of throwing them into the trashcan.
We should always remember in our mind that protecting the environment is our duty that we can never neglect. Finally would you please let me end this speech with a little poem, “Be kind to the river. Be good to the trees. Smile at the sunshine, and bow to the breeze. Be friendly to nature, and nature will be friendly to you!”
Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman!
As you slowly open your eyes, look around , notice where the light comes into your room; listen carefully, see if there are new sounds you can recognize; feel with your body and spirit, and see if you can sense the freshness in the air. Yes, yes, yes, it’s a new day, it’s a different day, and it’s a bright day! And most importantly, it is a new beginning for your life, a beginning where you are going to make new desicisions, take new actions, make new friends, and take your life to a totally unprecedented level! You know all this is real as long as you are confident,passionate and committed! And you are confident, you are passionate, you are committed!
You will no longer fear making new sounds, showing new facial expressions, using your body in new ways,approaching new people, and asking new questions. You will live every single day of your life with absolute passion, and you will show your passion through the words you speak and the actions you take. You will focus all your time and effort on the most important goals of your life. You will never succumb to challenges of hardships. You will never waver in your pursuit of excellence. After all,you are the best, and you deserve the best!
As your coach and friend, I can assure you the door to all the best things in the world will open to you, but the key to that door is in your hand. You must do your part, you must faithfully follow the plans you make and take the actions you plan, you must never quit, you must never fear. I know you must do it, you can do it, you will do it, and you will succeed!
Now stand firm and tall, make a fist, get excited, and yell it out: I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed! I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed! I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed!
Can money buy happiness?
Different people have different opinions. Some think yes, while others hold the opposite.
It is true that with enough money one can buy all the things one wants, and live a life of comfort and security. However, it is equally true that lack of money causes great distress. It is a common view that "money is the root of all evil." The pursuit of money drives many people to cheat and steal.
In some places there is nothing that cannot be bought with money, resulting in corrupt societies where everybody is miserable.So, money does not necessarily mean happiness. It all depends on how it is used. If we make honest and sensible use of money, it can be a stepping-stone to happiness l Although money cannot buy happiness, it can make
happiness possible if it is employed sensibly.
Confidence in yourself is the secret of success. Understand the essence of confidence, even is the fact that have emancipated hope.
Self-confidence is a kind of power. A potential, valuable, strong power, it can do some great cause of earth-shattering.
Self-confidence is the principle of life. A person can't be everything, no matter what difficulties, no matter how many failure after, to try to overcome difficulties, like no fear of pines, stand proudly.
Self-confidence is a kind of have a courage. , this is with passion, we can develop their own life path, and describe the colorful world of tomorrow.
How can have no confidence, goujian cut golden spear of the king's favorite? Without confidence, just how western qin east valley of letter and unify the whole country? Without confidence, how can 102 qin guan replace ambrose banner? How can have no confidence, genghis khan's fighters on the Danube land?
Self-confidence is the pillar of the failure, is the base to the success of a drink.
Every child has his own hobby, I am no exception, my interest hobby is thedance. I hit the children's art school to study the dance has been four years.Since 7 years old, I am learning Latin dance. I have two dance teacher: Mr Wuand Mr Li, two teachers are very good for us, they lecture attitude is amiable,standards, while doing demonstration action seriously. In hand-holding guide ouractions, and is on our side to demonstrate repeatedly, let us learn, and guideus as we are also very patient. In the process of learning dance, I also metmany schools outside of the friend, although we can meet once a week, but wealways care about each other, care each other. Dance class classmate are verygood to me, especially my little partner, she is very kind to me. Remember once,I delayed a lesson because of illness, when I was ill go to class, she offeredto help me put the lessons to be missed, also practice with me, tired of hersweating like a pig, I and she said: "let's have a rest, see you sweat." Shesmiled to me and said: "ok". So we have been serious practice, I soon learned.Since learning dance, has caused me to enhance self-confidence, very have thecourage to do anything, no longer afraid. Remember the first time I take part inthe game, grandma made a brand new performance clothing for me, it has countlessdazzling bright drill and beautiful sequins, although I prepared very full, butI'm still feeling very nervous. Hand in the background of time, I and otherfriends to come and encourage each other. When the beautiful music sounded,small partner dragged my hand and walk forward, my nervousness on top of theworld, came to the middle of the table, I saw so many audience, the audience andthe bright lights shine on us, I feel like a little star, immediately relaxmood, tensions are also gradually calmed down, confidence is back. Not nervous,fear of mood, I successfully performed a complete set of movements, performanceis very good.
on my birthday two years ago, many special things happened on me. and i would
remember them forever.
that morning, i rode my bike to school happily as usual. on my way to the
classroom, i saw some of my classmates. but when they saw me, they rushed away. that made me confused. because they would talk to me or play jokes on me before. but it was strange today.
when i came into the classroom, i found the atmosphere was quite strange.
everybody looked at me and laughed loudly. suddenly they all said in good order,“happy birthday to you!” then they began to sing “happy birthday to you~~~~~~” that made me moved. i never told anyone about my birthday, how did they know? i believed they must have done a lot of things. at that moment, i found nothing to say but thanks instead!
after school, a thing coming as a surprise happened on me on my way back home. when i was riding suddenly a crowed of people rushed out to stopped my bike.i recogized them at once. they were my senior classmates. they all comlained to me,“why don‘t you tell us about your birthday? don‘t you fear that we will let you stand treat? this time you owe us.” then each of them gave a gift and a card with best wishes to me. i was deeply moved again. i suggested having a dinner together. but they all refused because of the time. then they left me saying we would ask you to pay us another day!
when i got back home, i thought of everything happened today. suddenly i felt so happy because i had such great friends around me. i thanked them from the bottom of my heart. i would value the precious friendship forever!
i have so many feelings through that special day. the only rose without thorns in the world is friendship. a true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart. truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget. one friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible. stick to make friends, forlife without friends is like life on a desert island. to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune, to keep him is a blessing.
thank you for your attention!
译文
两年前我过生日时，有很多特殊的事情发生在我身上。我会
永远记住他们。
那天早晨，我像往常一样骑着我的自行车去学校。在我去的路上
教室里，我看到了我的一些同学。但当他们看见我的时候，他们就跑了。这让我感到困惑。因为他们会跟我说，或在我面前开玩笑。但今天很奇怪。
当我走进教室的时候，我发现气氛很奇怪。
每个人都看着我，大声笑。突然他们都说了很好的顺序，“祝你生日快乐!“然后他们开始唱“你~~~~~~”让我生日快乐感动。我从来没有告诉过任何人关于我的生日，他们怎么知道?我相信他们一定是做了很多事情。在那一刻，我发现没有什么可以说，但感谢!
放学后，一件事情发生在我身上的一个惊喜发生在我回家的路上。当我骑着突然人群中冲出来拦住了我的自行车。我在一次重要。他们是我的高中同学。他们都抱怨我，“你为什么不告诉我你的生日吗?难道你不担心我们会让你站在你的立场上?这一次，你欠我们的，“然后他们每个人都给了我一份礼物和一张卡片，以最美好的祝愿送给我。我又被深深地感动了。我建议一起吃晚饭。但他们都拒绝了，因为时间。然后，他们离开我说，我们会要求你支付我们的另一天!
当我回到家里，我想到今天发生的一切。突然我感到很高兴，因为我有这样伟大的朋友在我身边。我从心底感谢他们。我会珍惜这珍贵的友谊!
我有那么多的感情通过那特殊的日子。世上唯一没有荆棘的玫瑰就是友谊。一个真正的朋友是一个向你伸手，触动你心灵的人。真正伟大的朋友都很难找到，很难离开，而不可能忘记。一生中的一个朋友是很多的，有三个是不多的，个是不可能的。坚持做朋友，因为没有朋友就像生活在荒岛上。一生中找到一个真正的朋友是福气，要留着他是一种福气。
The final episode of the hottest TV drama in China has been aired on TV last night. So today I'm going to talk about Nirvana in Fire, whose Chinese name is Lang Ya Bang.
Millions of people either rushed home for the live TV viewing or stayed up till midnight for the episode updates on the internet. Actually, I was one of them. And I really enjoy the process of binge-watching.
The drama introduces a story about redressing an unjust case and reviving the country. A loyal general called Lin Xie took his only child, the 17 year old Lin Shu to the battlefield to defend the country. Unexpectedly, Lin Xie was framed by his political rivals, causing the unjust deaths of seventy thousand Chi Yan army soldiers, just after they drove off the hostile Wei forces.
Fortunately, Lin Shu was rescued by a loyal subordinate, although he barely escaped with his life. With the help of Lang Ya Hall, Lin Shu was able to change his appearance, establish the Jiang Zuo Alliance, the top faction in Jianghu, and return to the capital 12 years latter as the identity of Mei Changsu. He secretly assists his friend Xiao Jingyan, the unfavoured son of Emperor and wisely rids the court of all scheming officials, successfully overturning the past injustices of the Chi Yan army ahead of his impending death…
I was attracted by the excellent script, the exqwisite tableaux and the consummate acting skills of actors and actresses. There is no doubt that Nirvana in Fire has been a hit in China even all over the world. So if you haven't watched it, just have a try. I believe you will not regret.
That's all. Thank you!
honorable judges, fellow students: good afternoon!
recently, ther is a heated debate in our society. the college students arethe beneficiaries of a rare privilege, who receive exceptional education atextraordinary places. but will we be able to face the challenge and supportourselves against all odds? will we be able to better the lives of others? willwe be able to accept the responsibility of building the future of ourcountry?
the cynics say the college students are the pampered lost generation, whichwould cringe at the slightest discomfort. but the cynics are wrong. the collegestudents i see are eagerly learning about how to live independently. we helpeach other clean the dormitory, go shopping and bargain together, and take parttime jobs to supplement our pocket money.
the cynics say we care for nothing other than grades; and we neglect theneed for character cultivation. but again, the cynics are wrong. we care deeplyfor each other, we cherish freedom, we treasure justice, and we seek truth. lastweek, thousands of my fellow students had their blood type tested in order tomake a contribution for the children who suffer from blood cancer.
as college students, we are adolescents at the critical turning point inour lives. we all face a fundamental choice: cynicism or faith, each willprofoundly impact our future, or even the future of our country. i believe inall my fellow classmates. though we are still inexperienced and even a littlebit childish. i believe that we have the courage and faith to meet any challengeand take on our responsibilities. we are preparing to assume newresponsibilities and tasks, and to use the education we have received to makeour world a better place. i believein our future.
Today I am very glad to be here to share with you my ideas of success. Whatis success? It is what everyone is longing times success would be rathersimple. Winning a game is success; getting a high grade in the exam is success;making a new friend is success; even now I am standing here giving my speech is somehow also success.
However, as a person’s whole life is concerned, success becomes very complicated. Is fortune success? Is fame success? Is high social statussuccess? No, I don’t think so. I believe success is the realization ofpeople’s hopes and days, in the modern society there are many people who are regarded as the successful. And the most obvious characteristics ofhem are money, high position and luxurious life. So most people believe that ssuccess and all that they do is for this purpose. But the problem is wether itis real success. We all know there are always more money, higher position andbetter condition in front of us. If we keep chasing them, where is the end? Whatwill satisfy us at last? Therefore, we can see, to get the real Success we mustneed something inside, which is the realization of people’ hopes and ideals.
Different people have different ideas about success; cause people’s hopesand ideas vary from one another. But I am sure every success is dear toeverybody, cause it is not easy to come by, cause in the process of our strivingfor success, we got both our body and soul tempted, meanwhile we are enlightenedby the most valuable qualities of human beings: love, patient, courage and senseof responsibility. These are the best treasures. So now I am very proud that Ihave this opportunity to stand here speaking to all of you. It is my success,cause I raise up to challenge my hope.
What is success? Everyone has his own interpretation as I do. But I am sure every success leads to an ever-brighter future. So ladies and gentlemen,believe in our hopes, believe in ourselves, we, every one of us, can make a successful life! Wish you all good success!
when the breeze gently hold when liuxu savoury, when the sun put it goldenglorious quietly around the cherry blossom trees on appered handsome; when thebeautiful petals in the air to reach several commonly roll long, then gentlylanded, we are enjoying a brilliant happineof campus life.
early morning, happy bird singing, accompany us go strollw floral path andwatched the we walked into the campus, eye is full of happiness. sunshine shopin writing has "e, nanjing normal university affiliated yangzi dickers" e, thebronze medal and put downy light reflection to our body, we cheerfully acceptedthis light, vigorous entered in campus. on the way to the classroom, and everyday that we can all see beautiful fountain and pool, and forceful huaihe booksand rather ?
the most successful person may not be the smartest rding to asurvey conducted among a group of people who were in the same university tenyears ago , those whose grade-point average was in the middle fifty percent ,all become rich or managers of different fields , while not a single young manof the upper ten percent becomes an executive or boss. why the smartest kids inthe classwill not end up the richest? why those who are not excellent in studiestend to be managers or own their own enterprise in their later life? and whatfactors lead to succein career and life if brains are not the only answer?according to my observation , academic brightneis only part of the story , theother factors are very important. one ingredient , among other things , is goodinterpersonal skills. there is stong evidence that friendship can help to tideyou over a period of difficulty. with a wide circle of friends who can betrusted yo provide information and resources, your chances of succeare muchhigher. on the contrary , if you are competent in profession , but havedifficulty in getting along with your colleagues and even your boss, you canhardly survive the corporation. another component is the ability to expreoneself. in today s world , what really counts is the ability to expreoneself ratherthan technical competence or professional knowledge . the larger the orgnizationof which you are an employee , and th fiercer the competition , the moreimportant it will be that you know how to convey your thoughts and convinceothers of your ideas. personality is also an important factor. whateverdifficulty or situation , those who appear relaxed and confident are nearer tosuccess. obviously , among the ingredients for succe, intelligence counts forthe half , the rest depends on your personality , and other abilities.
1、hello everyone！
today i will introduce you a paper, which is called “effects of corporate governance on capital structure: empirical evidence from pakistan “
2、i will use the following four parts to introduce
3、i got this paper from the emerald reprints the world’s leading publisher of management research and the type of the paper is research paper
纳迪姆阿麦的sheke
4、then we can have a simple knowledge of the two authors:nadeem ahmed sheikh and 王宗军 one is a doctoral degree candidate in the school of management, hua zhong university of science and technology, wuhan .the other is a professor in this college
5. about the paper’s outline
firstly the aim of this empirical study is to investigate whether corporate governance attributes affect capital structure choices of pakistani firms
then the design of the paper is multiple regression analysis
6、in order to have a good knowledge of the paper we can from the following three aspects to
the attributes of the corporate governance are background also includes ：measures of corporate governance and their relation to capital structure
8、research design
firstly 1.research methodology：it includes three aspects: data variables and methodology date: this study investigates the significant corporate governance attributes that may affect the capital structure of non-financial firms listed on the karachi stock exchange pakistan during 20xx-2008. and the final sample set consists of 775 observations for 155 firms over a period of five years.
this study employed panel data methodology(面板数据方式) because sample contained data across firms and over time
9、this table is the definition of variables. it includes three parts:
10. dependent variables consist of total debt ratio and long-term debt ratio. this is a basic formula.
12、this table is the yearly mean value of shareholding pattern
13、here are some of regression analysis tables, through the multiple regression analysis the paper gives the conclusions
14、the results is as follows:
capital structure is positively related to board size、outside directors and ownership concentration. that is to say: a large board serve as a means to obtain support from external environment;
boards with more independent directors can take on more debt on favorable terms due to effective monitoring ;
block holders have more ability than dispersed shareholders to force management to take those actions that maximize the shareholder wealth.
15、on the other hand, capital structure is negative related to managerial ownership、director remuneration 、profitability and liquidity.
16、in the end, i have a summary:
the results of the paper indicate that corporate governance attributes, in part, explicate the financing behavior of pakistani firms
and, the empirical results of this study provide support to corporate managers in establishing an optimal capital structure, and to regulatory authorities for enacting laws and developing institutional support to make corporate governance mechanisms work more effectively in the country.
17、thats all, thank you for listen to me, if you are interested in this paper you can have a study after class
The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holds that the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC) of the Warring States Period. He committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the
corruption of the Chu government. The local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fish so they would not eat Qus body. They also sat on long, narrow paddle boats called dragon boats, and tried to scare the fish away by the sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking carved dragon head on the boats prow.
In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celebrated as "PoetsDay,"due to Qu Yuans status as Chinas first poet of personal renown.
Today, people eat bamboo-wrapped steamed glutinous(粘的) rice dumplings called zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fish) and race dragon boats in memory of Qus dramatic death.
Good morning, my name is jack, it is really a great honor to have this opportunity for a interview, I would like to answer whatever you may raise, and I hope I can make a good performance today, eventually enroll in this prestigious university in September.Now I will introduce myself briefly,I am Jack. I was born in Shanghai. I graduate from senior high school and major in English. I started learning English since I was 12 years old. My parents have a lot of American friends. That’s why I have no problem communicating with Americans or others by speaking English.
In my spare time, I like to do anything relating to English such as listening to English songs, watching English movies or TV programs, or even attending the activities held by some English clubs or institutes. I used to go abroad for a short- term English study. During that time, I learned a lot of daily life English and saw a lot of different things.
I think language is very interesting. I could express one substance by using different sounds. So I wish I could study and read more English
Literature and enlarge my knowledge.
Dear every leader, teacher, dear students:
Everybody is good, the title of my speech today is: "I love reading!
When I was a child, I grew up in mother's story. In each night, under the soft light, mother began to tell me interesting story books, listened, I slowly, unwittingly entered the sweet dreams - in blue in the night sky leisurely, I seem to become a star with wings, flying freely in the universe...
In the process of reading, I also met difficulties. When I read something when swallowed, the teacher taught me: to read without thinking, is equal to eat without digestion; When I was on the words in the book after, mother encouraged me: read a book hundreds of times, its righteousness. Gradually, I see, one to read a good book, reading to accumulate, to read more to think about.
I love reading. Book is the treasure house of knowledge, it is her, broadened my horizons and enriched my life; Book is the ladder of human, is she, help me to improve and progress; Books are the source of happiness, is her, to give me happiness, brings me satisfaction. Reading, how nice!
"Asked canal which had so much, to have a source to." With the book, we have the whole world; With a book, we will have a better tomorrow! The classmates, and I love reading together! Let elegant companion we grow happily, let books to nourish our life!
My speech finished, thank you.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5 deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, 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 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.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started?
Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that 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, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.
Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.
You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. 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. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your 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 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.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. 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.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely 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 should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite 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 other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have 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.
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