Video: Steve Jobs – How to live before you die

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

In 2005, the late Steve Jobs gave a touching address to the commencement class at Stanford University about how to live before you die.

Former Apple CEO Jobs passed away last night at the age of 56 after a lengthy battle with cancer and will always be remembered as one of the most iconic and legendary businessmen in American history, having changed the course of personal computing, digital music and tablet technology in a career spanning 35 years.

Inventions such as the personal computer, the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod will ensure his legacy and although his life was cut short, he certainly lived it to the fullest before he passed away if an inspirational address to the Stanford commencement class of 2005 is anything to go by.

In the speech, Jobs talks about some of the pivotal moments in his life and about how being diagnosed with cancer in 2004 forced him to alter his outlook on life.

Some of the most notable excerpts from the speech have been quoted below, but you can check out the oration in its entirety in the video above.

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: ‘If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me, and since then, 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.

“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. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. 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.

“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. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

“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 others' 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.”