‘Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.’ Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
The Apple founder, who died on 5th October, attributed much of his success to a historically-based course he took in calligraphy.
It is, to paraphrase (or not) Zhou Enlai, too early to talk about the long term importance of Steve Jobs and Apple, but it is fair to say that he made a success of his all too short life.
In 2005 Jobs, who died on 5th October aged 56, addressed Stanford University and recalled an episode from his time at Reed College in Oregon. Politicians who think that we should force young people into proscriptive, utilitarian courses in order to compete in the future should take heed. Jobs owes a great deal of his success to a short, historically-based course he took in calligraphy. King’s College, London, which recently closed its palaeography course, should hang its head in shame.
Here’s an extract from Jobs’ speech; you can watch it in its entirety in the video above.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.
