Entrepreneurs / Investors

83 Steve Jobs Quotes on Work, Life, & Death (APPLE)

Steve Jobs – a name that revolutionized the tech industry and embodied the spirit of innovation. As the co-founder of Apple Inc., Jobs’ vision and creativity have shaped our digital landscape, influencing how we communicate, work, and live.

These quotes are not just motivational phrases; they are the reflections of a mind that dared to think differently, challenged the status quo, and believed in the power of ideas. They encapsulate Jobs’ views on innovation, perseverance, leadership, and the pursuit of excellence.

Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a tech enthusiast, or simply a reader seeking inspiration, these quotes will ignite your imagination, fuel your ambition, and inspire you to strive for greatness.

Top 16 Most Famous Steve Jobs Quotes (INSPIRATIONAL)

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.”

Steve Jobs
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.Pin
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.Pin
My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.Pin
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.Pin
Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.
Let’s go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday.Pin
Let’s go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday.
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.Pin
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

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.”

Steve Jobs
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.Pin
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to a thousand things.Pin
I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to a thousand things.
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.Pin
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.Pin
Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.
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.Pin
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.

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.”

Steve Jobs
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.Pin
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.Pin
I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.

32 Best Steve Jobs Quotes on Work and Life (LEARNING)

“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.”

Steve Jobs
I think the things you regret most in life are the things you didn’t do.Pin
I think the things you regret most in life are the things you didn’t do.
I don’t care about being right. I care about success and doing the right thing.Pin
I don’t care about being right. I care about success and doing the right thing.
That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.Pin
That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?Pin
We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?

We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So, it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”

Steve Jobs
Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.Pin
Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.Pin
Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.
We’re just enthusiastic about what we do.Pin
We’re just enthusiastic about what we do.
I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.Pin
I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.
You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.Pin
You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.

I’ve always been attracted to the more revolutionary changes. I don’t know why. Because they’re harder. They’re much more stressful emotionally. And you usually go through a period where everybody tells you that you’ve completely failed.”

Steve Jobs
For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.Pin
For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.
Creativity is just connecting things.Pin
Creativity is just connecting things.
The greatest thing is when you do put your heart and soul into something over an extended period of time, and it is worth it.Pin
The greatest thing is when you do put your heart and soul into something over an extended period of time, and it is worth it.
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.Pin
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

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. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it… Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”

Steve Jobs
Things don’t have to change the world to be important.Pin
Things don’t have to change the world to be important.
Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get it right.Pin
Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get it right.
It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.Pin
It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.

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. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

Steve Jobs
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.Pin
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.
Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.Pin
Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.
Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.Pin
Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.
Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.Pin
Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.
Even if we lose our money, we’ll have a company, For once in our lives, we’ll have a company.Pin
Even if we lose our money, we’ll have a company, For once in our lives, we’ll have a company.

What is Apple, after all? Apple is about people who think ‘outside the box,’ people who want to use computers to help them change the world, to help them create things that make a difference, and not just to get a job done.”

Steve Jobs
The doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person.Pin
The doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person.
I don’t mind being wrong, and I’ll admit that I’m wrong a lot. It doesn’t really matter to me too much. What matters to me is that we do the right thing.Pin
I don’t mind being wrong, and I’ll admit that I’m wrong a lot. It doesn’t really matter to me too much. What matters to me is that we do the right thing.
I do not adopt softness towards others because I want to make them better.Pin
I do not adopt softness towards others because I want to make them better.
Focusing is about saying no. And you’ve got to say no, no, no. When you say no, you piss off people.Pin
Focusing is about saying no. And you’ve got to say no, no, no. When you say no, you piss off people.
Focusing is about saying no. And you’ve got to say no, no, no. When you say no, you piss off people.Pin
If you don’t love it, you’re going to fail.

35 Motivational Steve Jobs Quotes (INNOVATION)

My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others’ negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts.”

Steve Jobs
Picasso had a saying – ‘good artists copy, great artists steal‘ – and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.Pin
Picasso had a saying – ‘good artists copy, great artists steal‘ – and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.
In the broadest context, the goal is to seek enlightenment – however you define it.Pin
In the broadest context, the goal is to seek enlightenment – however you define it.
Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things into what you’re doing.Pin
Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things into what you’re doing.
We do no market research. We don’t hire consultants. We just want to make great products.Pin
We do no market research. We don’t hire consultants. We just want to make great products.
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.Pin
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
I think all of us need to be on guard against arrogance which knocks at the door whenever you’re successful.Pin
I think all of us need to be on guard against arrogance which knocks at the door whenever you’re successful.

Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.”

Steve Jobs
You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.Pin
You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.
I always advise people – Don’t wait! Do something when you are young, when you have nothing to lose, and keep that in mind.Pin
I always advise people – Don’t wait! Do something when you are young, when you have nothing to lose, and keep that in mind.
You should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last.Pin
You should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last.
One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are.Pin
One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are.
We were really working fourteen-to-eighteen-hour days, seven days a week. For like, two years, three years. That was our life. But we loved it, we were young, and we could do it.Pin
We were really working fourteen-to-eighteen-hour days, seven days a week. For like, two years, three years. That was our life. But we loved it, we were young, and we could do it.

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”

Steve Jobs
People judge you on your performance, so focus on the outcome.Pin
People judge you on your performance, so focus on the outcome.
It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy.Pin
It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy. Also read: One Piece Quotes
The only thing you have in your life is time. If you invest that time in yourself to have great experiences that are going to enrich you, then you can’t possibly lose.Pin
The only thing you have in your life is time. If you invest that time in yourself to have great experiences that are going to enrich you, then you can’t possibly lose.
Now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you, ‘Stay hungry, stay foolish.’Pin
Now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you, ‘Stay hungry, stay foolish.’
People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.Pin
People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.

Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.”

Steve Jobs
The Lisa people wanted to do something great. And the Mac people want to do something insanely great. The difference shows.Pin
The Lisa people wanted to do something great. And the Mac people want to do something insanely great. The difference shows.
We figured even if we crash and burn, and lose everything, the experience will have been worth ten times the cost.Pin
We figured even if we crash and burn, and lose everything, the experience will have been worth ten times the cost.
The really great person will keep on going and find the key, underlying principle of the problem, and come up with a beautiful elegant solution that works.Pin
The really great person will keep on going and find the key, underlying principle of the problem, and come up with a beautiful elegant solution that works.
There is a tremendous amount of craftsmanship between a great idea and a great product.Pin
There is a tremendous amount of craftsmanship between a great idea and a great product.
We are very careful about what features we add because we can’t take them away.Pin
We are very careful about what features we add because we can’t take them away.

If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things – that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it.”

Steve Jobs
Most people don’t get those experiences because they never ask. I’ve never found anybody that didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help.Pin
Most people don’t get those experiences because they never ask. I’ve never found anybody that didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help.
Each year has been so robust with problems and successes and learning experiences and human experiences that a year is a lifetime at Apple.Pin
Each year has been so robust with problems and successes and learning experiences and human experiences that a year is a lifetime at Apple.
And you’ve gotta be willing to fail, you gotta be ready to crash and burn, with people on the phone, with starting a company, with whatever. If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.Pin
And you’ve gotta be willing to fail, you gotta be ready to crash and burn, with people on the phone, with starting a company, with whatever. If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.
You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around.Pin
You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around.
The smallest company in the world can look as large as the largest company on the web.Pin
The smallest company in the world can look as large as the largest company on the web.
I think this is the start of something really big. Sometimes that first step is the hardest one, and we’ve just taken it.Pin
I think this is the start of something really big. Sometimes that first step is the hardest one, and we’ve just taken it.
No, we don’t know where it will lead. We just know there’s something much bigger than any of us here.Pin
No, we don’t know where it will lead. We just know there’s something much bigger than any of us here.

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently; they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Steve Jobs, Think Different – Apple Advertisement, 1997
YouTube video

Steve Jobs Short Biography

Born on 24 February 1955 in Palo Alto, California, U.S., Steven Paul Jobs was an American entrepreneur and industry innovator who co-founded Apple Inc. (with Steve Wozniak), a company that revolutionized technologies, including the iPhone and iPad.

Jobs was also the chairman of Pixar, founder of NeXT, and was a member of The Walt Disney Company‘s board of directors.

The founders of Apple, Steve Jobs and Wozniak were both widely recognized as the pioneers of the personal computer era of the 1970s and 1980s.

Further reading:

Here are the best Steve Jobs quotes so you can move forward fearlessly by focusing on the positive & letting go of the negative.

(MUST READ)

Also read:

Steve Jobs Quotes on Work, Life, & Death (APPLE) - Gracious QuotesPin
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