GoKawiilThis story is part of 9to5Mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.
In 1994 Steve Jobs sat down with the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association for what I imagined they expected to be a simple interview. It was anything but. In a matter of a few minutes the Apple co-founder shared some of the most profound advice I have ever heard anyone in a position of power give.
Steve was still at NeXT at the time, sporting a thick beard and his signature glasses, wearing a buttoned up denim shirt, in a true state of reflection. This particular interview hits hard, not just because the advice is profound, but because he gave it before his biggest accomplishments. The full quote is as follows:
When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. But life, that’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. And the minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That’s maybe the most important thing. Is to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that you’ll never be the same again.
I think it’s important for everyone to remember that no matter where you currently are in life, you have the ability to make a difference. Whether that’s through building products or through making art or by organizing a community or whatever the hell gets you out of bed in the morning. If you can wake up every single day, knowing that everything around you was made up by other human beings and that you, a human being, also have the capability to reshape your world, you will never feel lost. That’s the defining characteristic of Apple and I can think of no better lesson to take away on Apple’s 50th birthday. Watch the full clip below.