I’ve avoided the media surrounding Jobs’s death, mostly because of being busy with the changing landscape of work and family. Today I sat down and read some of the epitaphs and chronologies of his life and was a bit overcome at just how much he accomplished in 56 years.

Some compared him to a modern Leonardo da Vinci and I think it’s an apt portrayal. So in honor of Steve, I offer some of his quotes, which are truly inspirational to the creative process:

A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.
–Steve Jobs

A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.
–Steve Jobs

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
–Steve Jobs

And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.
–Steve Jobs

As individuals, people are inherently good. I have a somewhat more pessimistic view of people in groups. And I remain extremely concerned when I see what’s happening in our country, which is in many ways the luckiest place in the world. We don’t seem to be excited about making our country a better place for our kids.
–Steve Jobs

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
–Steve Jobs

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.
–Steve Jobs

Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.
–Steve Jobs

But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem.
–Steve Jobs

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.
–Steve Jobs

Question: Do you know how old I’ll be by the time I learn to play the piano?

Answer: The same age you will be if you don’t.

The Artist’s Way — Julia Cameron

We can live our whole lives thinking about grand ideas and the wonderful things we would like to do and learn. Or we can do them.

Do you want to:

• Learn the flute or guitar?
• Be able to draw anime?
• See the world from the top of Mount Everest?
• Visit Japan?
• Publish one of your stories?

Don’t wait until life is ready for you–it never will be.

Your Challenge, if you choose to accept it: Start one today.

What’s on the web this week?

Tracey Townsend quit her job and moved to New Zealand for a year. She learned a ton and writes some beautiful, well-analyzed prose on her experience.

Tech

3D printer makes a functional wrench (with moving parts) from a scan. Check out the amazing future (also terrifying) where machines will scan things and reproduce them.

The state of the web this summer. An eerilie accurate look at the absurdity and reality of the web’s evolution.

Martial Arts

Chris Smith at Lifehack writes about Seven Ways to Get Started. All the things discussed here are techniques used by martial arts instructors and creative writing professors.

Jack Montgomery, a pro MMA fighter I trained with in Tahoe, wrestled Jeff Munson (Abu Dhabi Champion) at Grapplers’ Quest. Pure magic and a great honor.

Now Munson is going to do a seminar at his school; this is how connections are made my friends. Humbly step up to the challenge; leave your fears and pride at the door. Get noticed.

Writing

Ms. Rachel Gardner talks about Writing a Terrific Author Bio. Like all her advice, this is pure gold.

K.M. Weiland writes about Lying to your readers with your awesome first line. She has some great insights to share.

I think one of the saddest fates for a person is to realize their imminent death and regret the time spent in this life.

I have said it before and I will say it again.

There is no tomorrow

Tomorrow, you wake up
you are eighty-five, in
a hospital bed

Tomorrow, he dies and
you missed your chance to say
I love you

Tomorrow is another
life without the friends you
know today

Tomorrow is a dream
a mist that anything
can steal away

Today is your only
chance to get it right and
live that dream

–Michael Wulf, 2011

Our lives consist of margins.

The difference between a knockout punch and glancing blow can be measured in millimeters or turning the head but a few degrees.

Our artistic pursuits exist Tuesdays and Thursdays from six to eight or Saturdays or mornings from five to six.

The time it takes to cause a fatal accident is less than a second of distraction, even after years comprising millions of seconds of diligence.

The difference between financial independence and living paycheck to paycheck starts with a few hundred dollars a month.

Some of our greatest regrets are fractions of moments: not speaking our hearts; the split-second decision that makes one forever a slave to a drug or vice.

Our most precious memories are moments or maybe even slivers of moments–a touch, an image a sunset, a kiss.

The difference between a healthy, fit body and a painful death is one tiny maligned lump in a sea of healthy cells and tissue.

The difference between mastering an art and someone who is decent at drawing is a couple hours a day three to five days a week.

We spend most of our time working, sleeping, and traveling. Our families struggle to exist in the cracks of the day between six and nine, morning and night. That is, assuming that there is no television in the home sucking up those precious hours.

We live in margins.