Even a chimp can write code

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Sage wisdom from commencement addresses

Steve Jobs's recent commencement address at Stanford is being widely talked about. While I think a lot of it is a rehash of statements he has made in the past, it is peppered with words of wisdom nevertheless. I figured I'd lookup a few of the other speeches I've come across in times gone by and extract some words of wisdom.

"Your biggest liability is your need to succeed. Your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve. Because success is a lot like a bright, white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it in any way." Conan O'Brien, Harvard, 2000.


"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." Steve Jobs, Stanford, 2005.


"If you make a theory, for example, and advertise it, or put it out, then you must also put down all the facts that disagree with it, as well as those that agree with it. There is also a more subtle problem. When you have put a lot of ideas together to make an elaborate theory, you want to make sure, when explaining what it fits, that those things it fits are not just the things that gave you the idea for the theory; but that the finished theory makes something else come out right, in addition" Richard Feynman, Caltech, 1974.


"Never say you'll give a talk unless you know clearly what you're going to talk about and more or less what you're going to say" Richard Feynman, Caltech, 1974.

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