Yes, he actually did say that at commissioning, but it wasn't completely morbid. Jobs told three stories about his own life, stories that I'll agree with the media in calling "surprisingly candid." It was not at all what I expected from a media-darling celebrity captain of industry. His anecdotes look like unusual choices for a graduation ceremony: dropping out of college, being fired from his own company, being diagnosed with terminal cancer. But once you got past that the message was damn good: you can't see how the future will play out, so stick with your instincts, and don't worry about connecting the dots until after the fact.
Jobs' ruminations on mortality rubbed some of my fellow graduates the wrong way, but I thought the message came through. Of course, literally living every day as if it were your last isn't such a great plan, but living every day mindful of your limited time here is a darn good idea. Maybe we need all that death talk to shake us out of adolescent complacency.
The complete text can be found here.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
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