Sacrifice and Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech
At First Things, Alma Acevedo revisits Steve Jobs’ speech to Stanford University’s graduating class of 2005. During this college commencement season, Acevedo finds much enduring wisdom in the 7-year-old message from the now deceased Apple CEO. “Jobs’ speech exalts individual preference as the arbiter, the guide of life decisions,” Acevedo writes. “However, exalting the heart at the expense of the intellect, or intuition at the expense of wisdom, may spell either human genius or human ruin. The head without the heart may feed psychopathy; its opposite, escapism … Some callings command that particular preferences be set aside. A sacrificial mindset? Thinking differently—and true joy and glory—demand no less.”