How to Live Before You Die - Summary | Class 11 English (Essays/Speech)

This lesson features the iconic commencement speech delivered by Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc., at Stanford University in 2005. The speech is uniquely structured around three stories from his life that illustrate his philosophy on success, failure, and mortality.

1. Connecting the Dots: Jobs talks about dropping out of Reed College and how taking a calligraphy class—which seemed useless at the time—later became the foundation for the beautiful typography of the Macintosh computer. He argues that you cannot see the future clearly, but you must trust that your experiences will eventually "connect."

2. Love and Loss: He describes the devastating experience of being fired from Apple, the company he started, at age 30. However, this "awful tasting medicine" freed him to enter one of the most creative periods of his life, leading to the starting of NeXT, Pixar, and meeting his future wife.

3. Death: Jobs reflects on his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. He describes Death as Life’s change agent, clearing out the old to make way for the new. He encourages the students to live their own lives authentically, as their time is limited.

The speech concludes with the legendary exhortation: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

👉 Also Read: NEB Class 11 English New Syllabus All Chapter Notes

Understanding the Text

a. What is the story about Steve Jobs’ birth? 

Answer: Steve Jobs was born to an unwed graduate student who decided to put him up for adoption. She insisted that he be adopted by college graduates. Initially, a lawyer and his wife were set to adopt him, but they decided they wanted a girl at the last minute. Consequently, he was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs, a working-class couple. His biological mother only signed the final papers after they promised that Steve would one day go to college.

b. What does he mean by “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards”? 

Answer: Jobs means that you cannot predict how current experiences will benefit you in the future. You must have faith that the "dots" (your choices and experiences) will somehow align later in life. This perspective encourages people to follow their curiosity and intuition, even when it doesn't seem to lead to an immediate, practical result.

c. What happened when Steve Jobs turned 30? 

Answer: After a decade of building Apple into a $2 billion company with 4,000 employees, Jobs had a falling out with the person he hired to run the company. The Board of Directors sided with the CEO, and at age 30, Jobs was publicly fired from his own company.

d. Jobs contends that you need to love what you do to be great at it. Do you agree? 

Answer: Yes, I agree. Greatness requires an immense amount of persistence, especially during setbacks. If you do not love your work, you will likely give up when things get difficult. Passion is the fuel that sustains long-term excellence.

e. Is death really life’s greatest invention? 

Answer: According to Jobs, yes. Death is the destination we all share. It acts as a "Change Agent," removing the old to make way for the new. It provides a sense of urgency to life, reminding us not to waste our limited time on things that aren't truly important.

Reference to the Context

a. Read the extract: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.”

• i. Who was the baby boy? Steve Jobs.

• ii. What does ‘do you want him?’ mean? It refers to the adoption agency offering the baby to Paul and Clara Jobs, who were next on the waiting list.

• iii. Who does ‘they’ refer to? His adoptive parents, Paul and Clara Jobs.

b. Explain the following lines:

• i. “You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.” Jobs is advocating for intuition. Since we cannot see the future, we need an internal belief system to give us the confidence to follow our hearts, even when it leads us off the well-worn path.

• ii. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” This is a call for authenticity. He warns against "dogma"—living with the results of other people's thinking—and encourages us to let our own inner voice drown out the opinions of others.

c. What does he mean by “don’t settle”? 

Answer: To "not settle" means to keep looking for your true passion and the work that satisfies your soul. Just like in matters of the heart, you will know it when you find it. Jobs encourages the audience to keep searching until they find work that they truly love.

d. Which style of speech is used by the speaker? 

Answer: Jobs uses a Narrative and Persuasive style. By using personal anecdotes (stories) rather than just giving advice, he builds an emotional connection with the audience, making his message more relatable and memorable.

Reference Beyond the Text

a. Can 'Think Differently' make a person succeed? What are the challenges? 

Answer: Yes, thinking differently allows for innovation and market leadership. If you follow the crowd, you can only go as far as the crowd. The challenges include:

• Social Pressure: People may call you "crazy" or unrealistic.

• Risk of Failure: New paths are unproven and often lead to initial setbacks.

• Loneliness: Being a pioneer often means working without a support system initially.

b. What does the slogan “Stay hungry; stay foolish” mean to you? 

Answer: To me, it means maintaining a lifelong learner's mindset. "Stay hungry" means never being satisfied with your current achievements—always craving more knowledge and growth. "Stay foolish" means being willing to take risks and try things that others might think are "stupid" or "unconventional."

c. What does it mean to be a visionary? How is Jobs different from a fortune teller? 

Answer: A visionary imagines a future that doesn't exist yet and then creates it. A fortune teller merely tries to predict a future that is already set. While a fortune teller is passive, a visionary like Steve Jobs is active—he changed the direction of the music, phone, and computing industries through his will and design.