Many of Steve Jobs ' most inspiring and quotable lines come from his famous 2005 commencement speech at Stanford , when he told assembled graduates , `` Your time is limited , so do n't waste it living someone else 's life . '' But the late Apple co-founder , who died a year ago Friday , had many other colorful and insightful things to say . Here are 10 of his better quotes , culled from `` I , Steve : Steve Jobs in His Own Words , '' edited by George Beahm . How Steve Jobs ' legacy has changed . 1 . `` What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with . It 's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds . '' ( film `` Memory & Imagination , '' 1990 ) 2 . `` I end up not buying a lot of things , because I find them ridiculous . '' ( The Independent , 2005 ) 3 . `` I think death is the most wonderful invention of life . It purges the system of these old models that are obsolete . '' ( Playboy , 1985 ) 4 . `` People think focus means saying yes to the thing you 've got to focus on . But that 's not what it means at all . It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are . You have to pick carefully . I 'm actually as proud of the things we have n't done as the things I have done . Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things . '' ( Apple Worldwide Developers ' Conference , 1997 ) 10 things Steve Jobs taught us . 5 . `` Being the richest man in the cemetery does n't matter to me . ... Going to bed at night saying we 've done something wonderful -- that 's what matters to me . '' ( CNNMoney/Fortune , 1993 ) 6 . `` My job is not to be easy on people . My job is to make them better . '' ( CNNMoney/Fortune , 2008 ) 7 . `` If you want to live your life in a creative way , as an artist , you have to not look back too much . You have to be willing to take whatever you 've done and whoever you were and throw them away . '' ( Playboy , 1985 ) 8 . `` Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower . '' ( `` The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs , '' 2001 ) 9 . `` My model for business is the Beatles . They were four guys who kept each other 's kind of negative tendencies in check . They balanced each other , and the total was greater than the sum of the parts . That 's how I see business : Great things in business are never done by one person . They 're done by a team of people . '' ( `` 60 Minutes , '' 2003 ) 10 . `` I would trade all my technology for an afternoon with Socrates . '' ( Newsweek , 2001 ) Did Apple 's fanboy fever peak with Steve Jobs ?
The late Steve Jobs was full of insightful quotes about creativity and innovation . He said that the best way to get a new idea is by asking yourself, " What would I do if given this opportunity? "