“Nothing will work unless you do.”
Maya Angelou
quolira
quolira.com
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
About this quote
Meaning
Jobs is arguing that the quality of work and the quality of a person's relationship to that work are deeply connected. The idea is not simply that passion makes a job more enjoyable but that it sustains the persistence and attention required to reach an exceptional level. Without genuine investment in what you are doing, the drive to keep improving through difficulty tends to wear away before greatness is achieved.
Context
Jobs delivered these words during his commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, a speech in which he shared three personal stories from his own life. The address has since become one of the most widely circulated commencement speeches ever given. The line about loving your work came in the section where Jobs discussed his path through Apple and Pixar, reflecting on how he found direction after being removed from Apple in the 1980s and how that experience shaped his thinking about the relationship between work and meaning. The speech was recorded and shared widely online, which extended its reach far beyond the audience that day.
About the author
Steve Jobs was an American entrepreneur and technology executive who co-founded Apple and played a central role in the development of products including the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. He was also involved in founding NeXT and in the early development of Pixar. Known for his demanding standards and strong aesthetic sensibilities, Jobs became one of the most influential figures in both the technology and consumer electronics industries during his lifetime.
Up next
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
Helen Keller
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle · Nicomachean Ethics (paraphrased by Will Durant)
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Arthur Ashe
“I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan · Nike advertisement, 1997
“Believe you can and you're halfway there.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.”
Lao Tzu · Tao Te Ching
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Confucius
“Well done is better than well said.”
Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard's Almanack
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
Mark Twain
“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
