Apple announced 5th Oct 2011 that its founder and recently retired CEO Steve Jobs had died.

It was well known that Mr. Jobs had suffered from cancer more than seven years ago and recently had a liver transplant.

Medical Experts not involved with Mr. Jobs care, speculated that cancer was most likely the cause of his death although complications from the liver transplant, the transplanted organ ceasing to function or problems with the immune-suppressing medicines (to prevent organ rejection) might also have been involved.

Jobs had previously declared he was free from cancer in 2004 after he was treated for an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, a slow moving and relatively treatable form of pancreatic cancer, which is more often associated with a faster spreading much more aggressive pancreatic tumor.

Perhaps it would be more fitting for someone as revolutionary as Steve Jobs to remember his life and attitudes rather than delving into what caused his demise :

On life

“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. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

On instinct

“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.”

On work

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

” Stanford commencement speech 2005

Goodbye Steve Jobs ~ Another 20+ years would have served you and most of the world much better.

Written by Rupert Shepherd