It's not the tools that you have faith in - tools are just tools. They work, or they don't work. It's people you have faith in or not. Yeah, sure, I'm still optimistic I mean, I get pessimistic sometimes but not for long.
Interpretation
True faith lies in people rather than tools; optimism may falter, but it can return.
In this quote, Steve Jobs emphasizes the importance of placing faith in people rather than the tools they use. Tools are merely instruments that can be effective or ineffective, but it is the people behind them who ultimately drive success and innovation. While he acknowledges the human tendency for pessimism, he also expresses an enduring optimism that moments of doubt do not last long, illustrating the resilience of human spirit and belief in others.
In practice
In a motivational speech about teamwork and collaboration.
Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. The iMac is not just the color or translucence or the shape of the shell. The essence of the iMac is to be the finest possible consumer computer in which each element plays together.
It is piracy, not overt online music stores, which is our main competitor.
The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it.
For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
By not caring too much about what people think, I'm able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed.
It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.
I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.
Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.
Nothing frustrates me more than someone who reads something of mine or anyone else's and says, angrily, 'I don't buy it.' Why are they angry? Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head—even if in the end you conclude that someone else's head is not a place you'd really like to be.
Search, no matter what situation you are in. O thirsty one, search for water constantly. Finally, the time will come when you will reach the spring.
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