And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.
Genuine
Yes. In Commencement address at Stanford University (2005), Third story, about death, paragraph beginning “No one wants to die”.
Checked against Steve Jobs, commencement address at Stanford University, 12 June 2005; published transcript in Make Something Wonderful, Steve Jobs Archive, section “Commencement Address at Stanford University”, in a full-text transcription.
- Work
- Commencement address at Stanford University, 2005
- Where
- Third story, about death, paragraph beginning “No one wants to die”
- Source
- Steve Jobs, commencement address at Stanford University, 12 June 2005; published transcript in Make Something Wonderful, Steve Jobs Archive, section “Commencement Address at Stanford University”
- Checked
- In a full-text transcription
Researched by AI. Entry updated 24 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
About this quote
The scene
Speaking to Stanford’s graduating class after recalling his cancer diagnosis, Jobs first says that nobody wants to die. He then describes death as a process of generational replacement. He immediately reminds the young audience that they too will become old and be displaced before turning to advice about how to use their limited time.
What it means
Mortality makes room for new people and new possibilities, even though individuals fear dying.
Often misread
The passage is not a celebration of a particular person’s death or a deathbed declaration. It is part of a public commencement speech delivered in 2005, and it begins by acknowledging the desire to stay alive.
Topics
Related quotes
- one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to live, and, which may perhaps surprise you more, one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to die. Seneca the Younger
- Never say about anything, I have lost it, but say I have restored it. Epictetus
- Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.
- Let death and exile and every other thing which appears dreadful be daily before your eyes; but most of all death: and you will never think of anything mean nor will you desire anything extravagantly. Epictetus
- The only persons who are really at leisure are those who devote themselves to philosophy: and they alone really live: for they do not merely enjoy their own lifetime, but they annex every century to their own: all the years which have passed before them belong to them. Seneca the Younger
Sources
Cite it
Steve Jobs, Commencement address at Stanford University (2005), Third story, about death, paragraph beginning “No one wants to die”. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/death-is-lifes-change-agent/ (24 October 2026).
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Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
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