爱华网Hello GW.
Thank you very much President Knapp for that kind intro. Alex,trustees, faculty and deans of the university, my fellow honorees,and especially you the class of 2015. Yes.
Congratulations to you, to your family, to your friends that areattending today's ceremony. You made it. It's a privilege, a rareprivilege of a lifetime to be with you today. And I think thank youenough for making me an honorary Colonial.
Before I begin today, they asked me to make a standardannouncement. You’ve heard this before. About silencing yourphones. Those of you with an iPhone, just place it in silent mode.If you don't have an iPhone, please pass it to the center aisle.Apple has a world‑class recycling program.
You know, this is really an amazing place. And for a lot of you,I’m sure that being here in Washington, the very center of ourdemocracy, was a big draw when you were choosing which school to goto. This place has a powerful pull. It was here that Dr. MartinLuther King challenged Americans to make real the promises ofdemocracy, to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
And it was here that President Ronald Reagan called on us tobelieve in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to performgreat deeds. I'd like to start this morning by telling you about myfirst visit here. In the summer of 1977 ‑‑ yes, I’m a little old ‑‑I was 16 years old and living in Robertsdale, the small town insouthern Alabama that I grew up in. At the end of my junior year ofhigh school I’d won an essay contest sponsored by the NationalRural Electric Association. I can't remember what the essay wasabout, what I do remember very clearly is writing it by hand, draftafter draft after draft. Typewriters were very expensive and myfamily could not afford one.
I was one of two kids from Baldwin County that was chosen to go toWashington along with hundreds of other kids across the country.Before we left, the Alabama delegation took a trip to our statecapitol in Montgomery for a meeting with the governor. Thegovernor's name was George C. Wallace. The same George Wallace whoin 1963 stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabamato block African Americans from enrolling. Wallace embraced theevils of segregation. He pitted whites against blacks, the Southagainst the North, the working class against the so‑called elites.Meeting my governor was not an honor for me.
My heroes in life were Dr. Martin Luther King, and Robert F.Kennedy, who had fought against the very things that Wallace stoodfor. Keep in mind, that I grew up, or, when I grew up, I grew up ina place where King and Kennedy were not exactly held in highesteem. When I was a kid, the South was still coming to grips withits history. My textbooks even said the Civil War was about states’rights. They barely mentioned slavery.
So I had to figure out for myself what was right and true. It was asearch. It was a process. It drew on the moral sense that I’dlearned from my parents, and in church, and in my own heart, andled me on my own journey of discovery. I found books in thepubliclibrary that they probably didn't know they had. They all pointedto the fact that Wallace was wrong. That injustices likesegregation had no place in our world. That equality is aright.
As I said, I was only 16 when I met Governor Wallace, so I shookhis hand as we were expected to do. But shaking his hand felt likea betrayal of my own beliefs. It felt wrong. Like I was selling apiece of my soul.
From Montgomery we flew to Washington. It was the first time I hadever been on an airplane. In fact it was the first time that Itraveled out of the South. On June 15, 1977, I was one of 900 highschoolers greeted by the new president, President Jimmy Carter, onthe south lawn of the White House, right there on the other side ofthe ellipse. I was one of the lucky ones, who got to shake hishand. Carter saw Baldwin County on my name tag that day and stoppedto speak with me. He wanted to know how people were doing after therash of storms that struck Alabama that year. Carter was kind andcompassionate; he held the most powerful job in the world but hehad not sacrificed any of his humanity. I felt proud that he waspresident. And I felt proud that he was from the South. In thespace of a week, I had come face to face with two men whoguaranteedthemselves a place in history. They came from the same region. Theywere from the same political party. They were both governors ofadjoining states. But they looked at the world in very differentways. It was clear to me, that one was right, and one was wrong.Wallace had built his political career by exploiting divisionsbetween us. Carter's message on the other hand, was that we are allbound together, every one of us. Each had made a journey that ledthem to the values that they lived by, but it wasn't just abouttheir experiences or their circumstances, it had to come fromwithin.
My own journey in life was just beginning. I hadn't even appliedfor college yet at that point. For you graduates, the process ofdiscovering yourself, of inventing yourself, of reinventingyourself is about to begin in earnest. It's about finding yourvalues and committing to live by them. You have to find your NorthStar. And that means choices. Some are easy. Some are hard. Andsome will make you question everything. Twenty years after my visitto Washington, I met someone who made me question everything. Whoupended all of my assumptions in the very best way. That was SteveJobs.
Steve had built a successful company. He had been sent away and hereturned to find it in ruins. He didn't know it at the time, but hewas about to dedicate the rest of his life to rescuing it, andleading it to heights greater than anyone could ever imagine.Anyone, that is, except for Steve. Most people have forgotten, butin 1997 and early 1998, Apple had been adrift for years.Rudderless. But Steve thought Apple could be great again. And hewanted to know if I’d like to help.
His vision for Apple was a company that turned powerful technologyinto tools that were easy to use, tools that would help peoplerealize their dreams. And change the world for the better. I hadstudied to be an engineer and earned an M.B.A. I was trained to bepragmatic, a problem solver. Now I found myself sitting before andlistening to this very animated 40‑something guy with visions ofchanging the world. It was not what I had expected. You see, whenit came to my career, in 1998, I was also adrift. Rudderless.
I knew who I was in my personal life, and I kept my eye on my NorthStar, myresponsibility to do good for someone else, other thanmyself. But at work, well I always figured that work was work.Values had their place and, yes, there were things that I wanted tochange about the world, but I thought I had to do that on my owntime. Not in the office. Steve didn't see it that way. He was anidealist. And in that way he reminded me of how I felt as ateenager. In that first meeting he convinced me if we worked hardand made great products, we too could help change the world. And tomysurprise, I was hooked. I took the job and changed my life. It'sbeen 17 years and I have never once looked back.
At Apple we believe the work should be more than just aboutimproving your own self. It's about improving the lives of othersas well. Our products do amazing things. And just as Steveenvisioned, they empower people all over the world. People who areblind, and need information read to them because they can't see thescreen. People for whom technology is a lifeline because they areisolated by distance or disability. People whowitness target=_blankclass=infotextkey>witness injustice and want toexpose it, and now they can because they have a camera in theirpocket all the time.
Our commitment goes beyond the products themselves to how they’remade. To our impact on the environment. To the role we play indemanding and promoting equality. And in improving education. Webelieve that a company that has values and acts on them can reallychange the world. And an individual can too. That can be you. Thatmust be you. Graduates, your values matter. They are your NorthStar. And work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointedin the right direction. Otherwise, it's just a job, and life is tooshort for that. We need the best and brightest of your generationto lead in government and in business. In the science and in thearts. In journalism and in academia. There is honor in all of thesepursuits. And there is opportunity to do work that is infused withmoral purpose. You don't have to choose between doing good anddoing well. It's a false choice, today more than ever.
Your challenge is to find work that pays the rent, puts food on thetable, and lets you do what is right and good and just.
So find your North Star. Let it guide you in life, and work, and inyour life's work. Now, I suspect some of you aren't buying this. Iwon't take it personally. It's no surprise that people areskeptical, especially here in Washington. Where these days you’vegot plenty of reason to be. And a healthy amount of skepticism isfine. Though too often in this town, it turns to cynicism. To theidea that no matter who’s talking or what they’re saying, thattheir motives are questionable, their character is suspect, and ifyou search hard enough, you can prove that they are lying. Maybethat's just the world we live in. But graduates, this is your worldto change.
As I said, I am a proud son of the South. It's my home, and I willalways love it. But for the last 17 years I’ve built a life inSilicon Valley; it's a special place. The kind of place wherethere’s no problem that can't be solved. No matter how difficult orcomplex, that's part of its essential quality. A very sincere sortof optimism. Back in the 90s, Apple ran an advertising campaign wecalled “Think Different.” It was pretty simple. Every ad was aphotograph of one of our heroes. People who had the audacity tochallenge and change the way we all live. People like Gandhi andJackie Robinson, Martha Graham and Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhartand Miles Davis. These people still inspire us. They remind us tolive by our deepest values and reach for our highest aspirations.They make us believe that anything is possible. A friend of mine atApple likes to say the best way to solve a problem is to walk intoa room full of Apple engineers and proclaim, “this isimpossible.”
I can tell you, they will not accept that. And neither should you.So that's the one thing I’d like to bring to you all the way fromCupertino, California. The idea that great progress is possible,whatever line of work you choose. There will always be cynics andcritics on the sidelines tearing people down, and just as harmfulare those people with good intentions who make no contribution atall. In his letter from the Birmingham jail, Dr. King wrote thatour society needed to repent, not merely for the hateful words ofthe bad people, but for the appalling silence of the goodpeople.
The sidelines are not where you want to live your life. The worldneeds you in the arena. There are problems that need to be solved.Injustices that need to be ended. People that are still beingpersecuted, diseases still in need of cure. No matter what you donext, the world needs your energy. Your passion. Your impatiencewith progress. Don'tshrink from risk. And tune out those criticsand cynics. History rarely yields to one person, but think, andnever forget, what happens when it does. That can be you. Thatshould be you. That must be you.
Congratulations Class of 2015. I’d like to take one photo of you,because this is the best view in the world. And it's a greatone.
Thank you very much.
