GRADUATION SPEECH BY GUY KAWASAKI, one of founders of Apple Computer who 
helped create the MAC:

"Hindsight" by Guy Kawasaki

Palo Alto High School Baccalaureate Speech 6/11/95

        Speaking to you today marks a milestone in my life. I am 40   
years old. 22 years ago, when I was in your seat, I never, ever thought I   
would be 40 years old.

        The implications of being your speaker frightens me. For one
thing, when a 40 year old geeser spoke at my baccalaureate ceremony,
he was about the last person I'd believe. I have no intention of   
giving you the boring speech that you are dreading. This speech will be short,
sweet, and not boring.

        I am going to talk about hindsights today. Hindsights that   
I've accumulated in the 20 years from where you are to where I am.  Don't
blindly believe.  Don't take what I say as "truth." Just listen.
Perhaps my experience can help you out a tiny bit.

        I will present them ala David Letterman. Yes, 40-year old   
people can still stay up past 11.

        #10:  Live off your parents as long as possible.
        When I spoke at this ceremony two years ago, this was the   
most popular hindsight-except from the point of view of the parents. Thus,   
I knew I was on the right track.
        I was a diligent Oriental in high school and college. I took
college-level classes and earned college-level credits. I rushed   
through college in 3 1/2 years. I never traveled or took time off because I
thought it wouldn't prepare me for work and it would delay my graduation.
Frankly, I blew it.  You are going to work the rest of your lives, so don't 
be in a rush to start.  Stretch out your college education.  Now is the time 
to suck life into your lungs-before you have a mortgage, kids, and car   
payments.  Take a whole semester off to travel overseas. Take jobs and 
internships that pay less money or no money. Investigate your passions on your
parent's nickel. Or dime. Or quarter. Or dollar. Your goal should be   
to extend college to at least six years.
        Delay, as long as possible, the inevitable entry into the
workplace and a lifetime of servitude to bozos who know less than you do, but
who make more money. Also, you shouldn't deprive your parents of the
pleasure of supporting you.

        #9:  Pursue joy, not happiness.
        This is probably the hardest lesson of all to learn.  It   
probably seems to you that the goal in life is to be "happy."  Oh, you maybe   
have to sacrifice and study and work hard, but, by and large, happiness
should be predictable.
        Nice house. Nice car. Nice material things.  Take my word for   
it, happiness is temporary and fleeting. Joy, by contrast, is   
unpredictable.  It comes from pursuing interests and passions that do not 
obviously result in happiness.
        Pursuing joy, not happiness will translate into one thing   
over the next few years for you: Study what you love. This may also not be
popular with parents. When I went to college, I was "marketing   
driven."  It's also an Oriental thing.
        I looked at what fields had the greatest job opportunities   
and prepared myself for them. This was brain dead. There are so many
ways to make a living in the world, it doesn't matter that you've   
taken all the "right" courses. I don't think one person on the
original Macintosh team had a classic "computer science" degree.
        Your parents have a responsibility in this area. Don't force   
your kids to follow in your footsteps or to live your dreams. My father   
was a senator in Hawaii. His dream was to be a lawyer, but he only had a   
high school education. He wanted me to be a lawyer.
        For him, I went to law school. For me, I quit after two   
weeks.  I view this a terrific validation of my inherent intelligence.

        #8:  Challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
        One of the biggest mistakes you can make in life is to accept   
the known and resist the unknown. You should, in fact, do exactly the
opposite: challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
        Let me tell you a short story about ice. In the late 1800s   
there was a thriving ice industry in the Northeast. Companies would cut   
blocks of ice from frozen lakes and ponds and sell them around the world.
The largest single shipment was 200 tons that was shipped to India. 100   
tons got there unmelted, but this was enough to make a profit.
        These ice harvesters, however, were put out of business by
companies that invented mechanical ice makers. It was no longer
necessary to cut and ship ice because companies could make it in any
city during any season.
        These ice makers, however, were put out of business by
refrigerator companies. If it was convenient to make ice at a
manufacturing plant, imagine how much better it was to make ice and
create cold storage in everyone's home.
        You would think that the ice harvesters would see the
advantages of ice making and adopt this technology. However, all they   
could think about was the known: better saws, better storage, better
transportation.
        Then you would think that the ice makers would see the
advantages of refrigerators and adopt this technology. The truth is   
that the ice harvesters couldn't embrace the unknown and jump their curve   
to the next curve.
        Challenge the known and embrace the unknown, or you'll be   
like the ice harvester and ice makers.

        #7:  Learn to speak a foreign language, play a musical
instrument, and play non-contact sports.
        Learn a foreign language. I studied Latin in high school   
because I thought it would help me increase my vocabulary. It did, but trust
me when I tell you it's very difficult to have a conversation in Latin   
today other than at the Vatican. And despite all my efforts, the Pope has   
yet to call for my advice.
        Learn to play a musical instrument. My only connection to   
music today is that I was named after Guy Lombardo. Trust me: it's better   
than being named after Guy's brother, Carmen. Playing a musical instrument
could be with me now and stay with me forever. Instead, I have to buy CDs at 
Tower.
        I played football. I loved football. Football is macho. I was a
middle linebacker--arguably, one of the most macho positions in a   
macho game. But you should also learn to play a non-contact sport like 
basketball or tennis. That is, a sport you can play when you're over the hill.
        It will be as difficult when you're 40 to get twenty two guys
together in a stadium to play football as it is to have a conversation in 
Latin, but all the people who wore cute, white tennis outfits can   
still play tennis. And all the macho football players are sitting around
watching television and drinking beer.

        #6:  Continue to learn.
        Learning is a process not an event. I thought learning would   
be over when I got my degree. It's not true. You should never stop   
learning.  Indeed, it gets easier to learn once you're out of school because   
it's easier to see the relevance of why you need to learn.
        You're learning in a structured, dedicated environment right   
now.  On your parent's nickel. But don't confuse school and learning. You   
can go to school and not learn a thing. You can also learn a tremendous
amount without school.

        #5:  Learn to like yourself or change yourself until you can   
like yourself.
        I know a forty year old woman who was a drug addict. She is a mother
of three. She traced the start of her drug addiction to smoking dope   
in high school.
        I'm not going to lecture you about not taking drugs. Hey, I
smoked dope in high school. Unlike Bill Clinton, I inhaled.  Also unlike   
Bill Clinton, I exhaled.
        This woman told me that she started taking drugs because she
hated herself when she was sober. She did not like drugs so much as
much as she hated herself.  Drugs were not the cause though she
thought they were the solution.
        She turned her life around only after she realized that she   
was in a downward spiral. Fix your problem. Fix your life. Then you won't   
need to take drugs.  Drugs are neither the solution nor the problem.
        Frankly, smoking, drugs, alcohol--and using an IBM PC--are   
signs of stupidity. End of discussion.

        #4:  Don't get married too soon.
        I got married when I was 32. That's about the right age.   
Until you're about that age, you may not know who you are. You also may not   
know who you're marrying.
        I don't know one person who got married too late. I know many
people who got married too young. If you do decide to get married,   
just keep in mind that you need to accept the person for what he or she is
right now.

        #3:  Play to win and win to play.
        Playing to win is one of the finest things you can do. It   
enables you to fulfill your potential. It enables you to improve the world   
and, conveniently, develop high expectations for everyone else too.
        And what if you lose? Just make sure you lose while trying
something grand.  Avinash Dixit, an economics professor at   
Princeton, and Barry Nalebuff, an economics and management professor at the
Yale School of Organization and Management, say it this way:
        "If you are going to fail, you might as well fail at a   
difficult task.  Failure causes others to downgrade their expectations of you 
in the future.  The seriousness of this problem depends on what you   
attempt."
        In its purest form, winning becomes a means, not an end, to
improve yourself and your competition.
        Winning is also a means to play again. The unexamined life   
may not be worth living, but the unlived life is not worth examining.   
The rewards of winning--money, power, satisfaction, and self-confidence--
should not be squandered.
        Thus, in addition to playing to win, you have a second, more
important obligation: To compete again to the depth and breadth and height 
that your soul can reach. Ultimately, your greatest competition is   
yourself.

        #2:  Obey the absolutes.
        Playing to win, however, does not mean playing dirty. As you
grow older and older, you will find that things change from   
absolute to relative. When you were very young, it was absolutely wrong to 
lie, cheat, or steal.
        As you get older, and particularly when you enter the   
workforce, you will be tempted by the "system" to think in relative terms. 
"I made more money." "I have a nicer car." "I went on a better vacation."
        Worse, "I didn't cheat as much on my taxes as my partner." "I   
just have a few drinks. I don't take cocaine." "I don't pad my expense   
reports as much as others."
        This is completely wrong. Preserve and obey the absolutes as
much as you can.   If you never lie, cheat, or steal, you will never   
have to remember who you lied to, how you cheated, and what you stole.
        There absolutely are absolute rights and wrongs.

        #1:  Enjoy your family and friends before they are gone.
        This is the most important hindsight. It doesn't need much
explanation. I'll just repeat it: Enjoy your family and friends   
before they are gone.
        Nothing-not money, power, or fame-can replace your family and   
friends or bring them back once they are gone. Our greatest joy has
been our baby, and I predict that children will bring you the   
greatest joy in your lives--especially if they graduate from college in four   
years.

        And now, I'm going to give you one extra hindsight because   
I've probably cost your parents thousands of dollars today.  It's   
something that I hate to admit to.

        By and large, the older you get, the more you're going to   
realize that your parents were right. More and more-until finally, you become
your parents. I know you're all saying, "Yeah, right." Mark my words.   


       Remember these ten things: if just one of them helps you helps   
just one of you, this speech will have been a success:

        #10: Live off your parents as long as possible.
        #9:  Pursue joy, not happiness.
        #8:  Challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
        #7:  Learn to speak a foreign language, play a musical instrument,
             and play non-contact sports.
        #6:  Continue to learn.
        #5:  Learn to like yourself or change yourself until you can like
             yourself.
        #4:  Don't get married too soon.
        #3:  Play to win and win to play.
        #2:  Obey the absolutes.
        #1:  Enjoy your family and friends before they are gone.

Congratulations on your graduation. Thank you very much.