Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Please visit us at stanford.edu Thank You.

請訪問我們的網站 stanford.edu，謝謝。

I am honored感到榮幸的 to be with you today at your commencement畢業典禮 from one of the finest universities in the world.

今天我很榮幸能來到這所世界頂尖學府之一的畢業典禮現場與大家相聚。

Truth be told I never graduated畢業 from college and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.

說實話，我從未大學畢業，而這是我最接近畢業的一次。

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.

今天我想和大家分享三個我的人生故事。

That's it.

就這些。

No big deal.

沒什麼大不了的。

Just three stories.

只有三個故事而已。

The first story is about connecting the dots.

第一個故事關於串聯點滴。

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.

我在裡德學院讀了六個月就退學了，但之後又旁聽了大約一年半才真正離開。

So why did I drop out?

那我為什麼退學呢？

It started before I was born.

這其實始於我出生之前。

My biological mother was a young, unwed未婚的 graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption收養（行為）.

我的親生母親是一位年輕未婚的研究生，她決定將我送人收養。

She felt very strongly that I should be adopted收養 by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted收養 at birth by a lawyer and his wife.

她非常堅定地認為我應該被大學生收養，所以一切都安排好了，讓我一出生就由一位律師和他的妻子收養。

Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

然而，當我呱呱墜地時，他們卻在最後一刻決定真的想要個女孩。

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?"

於是，排在我父母前面的那對夫婦在半夜接到電話：‘我們有個意外出生的男嬰，你們要嗎？’

They said: "Of course."

他們說：‘當然。’

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.

後來，我的親生母親發現我的養母從未大學畢業，養父甚至沒讀完高中。

She refused拒絕 to sign the final adoption papers.

她拒絕簽署最終的收養檔案。

She only relented讓步 a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college.

直到幾個月後，我的養父母承諾我會去上大學，她才勉強同意。

This was the start開始 in my life.

這是我人生的轉折點。

And 17 years later I did go to college.

十七年後，我真的上了大學。

But I naively樸素的 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教學.

但我天真地選了一所學費幾乎和斯坦福一樣昂貴的學校，我工薪階層父母的積蓄都花在了我的學費上。

After six months, I couldn't see the value重視 in it.

六個月後，我看不到它的價值了。

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.

我不知道自己將來想做什麼，也不知道大學如何能幫助我找到答案。

And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.

而我當時卻花光了我父母畢生積蓄的所有錢。

So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.

於是我決定退學，相信一切最終都會好起來的。

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

當時這確實很可怕，但回首往事，這是我做過的最好的決定之一。

The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required需要 classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

我一退學，就能停止上那些不感興趣的必修課，開始選修那些看起來有趣的課程。

It wasn't all romantic.

但這並不全是浪漫的。