Steve Jobs Quotes in Steve Jobs (2015)

Andy Hertzfeld: We're not a pit crew at Daytona. This can't be fixed in seconds.

Steve Jobs: You didn't have seconds, you had three weeks. The universe was created in a third of that time.

Andy Hertzfeld: Well, someday you'll have to tell us how you did it.

[from trailer]

Steve Wozniak: What do you do? You're not an engineer. You're not a designer. You can't put a hammer to a nail. I built the circuit board! The graphical interface was stolen! So how come ten times in a day I read Steve Jobs is a genius? What do you do?

Steve Jobs: Musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra.

Steve Wozniak: I was angry. You were saying things about the Apple II, and the way you were treating the team...

Steve Jobs: Woz, you get a free pass for life. I gotta get back on stage; we got like, two minutes of rehearsal time left.

Steve Wozniak: Do you understand how condescending that just was? Maybe you don't...

Steve Jobs: I don't wanna see you get dragged off...

Steve Wozniak: I get a free pass for life from you? You give out the passes? You give them to me?

Steve Jobs: You're gonna have a stroke, little buddy.

Steve Wozniak: What did you do? What did you do? Why has Lisa not heard of me?

Steve Jobs: How many fourth graders have heard of you?

Steve Wozniak: You can't write code... you're not an engineer... you're not a designer... you can't put a hammer to a nail. I built the circuit board. The graphical interface was stolen from Xerox Parc. Jef Raskin was the leader of the Mac team before you threw him off his own project! Someone else designed the box! So how come ten times in a day, I read Steve Jobs is a genius? What do you do?

Steve Jobs: I play the orchestra, and you're a good musician. You sit right there and you're the best in your row.

Steve Wozniak: I came here to clear the air. Do you know why I came here?

Steve Jobs: Didn't you just answer that?

Steve Wozniak: I came here 'cause you're gonna get killed. Your computer's gonna fail. You got a college and university advisory board telling you they need a powerful work station for two to three thousand. You priced NeXT at sixty-five hundred, and that doesn't include the optional three thousand dollar hardrive which people will discover isn't optional, because the optical disk is too weak to do anything, and the twenty-five hundred dollar laser printer brings the total to twelve thousand dollars, and in the entire world you are the only person that cares that it's housed in a perfect cube. You're gonna get killed. And I came here to stand next to you while that happens 'cause that's what friends do... that's what men do. I don't need your pass. We go back, so don't talk to me like I'm other people. I'm the only one that knows that this guy here is someone you invented. I'm standing by you because that perfect cube - that does nothing - is about to be the single biggest failure in the history of personal computing.

Steve Jobs: Tell me something else I don't know.

John Sculley: You're gonna end me, aren't you?

Steve Jobs: You're being ridiculous. I'm gonna sit center court and watch you do it yourself.

Steve Jobs: The two most significant events of the twentieth century: the Allies win the war, and this.

Steve Jobs: [on Bill Gates] He dropped out of a better school than I dropped out of.

Steve Jobs: God sent his only son on a suicide mission, but people like him because he made trees.

Steve Jobs: I'm gonna put music in your pocket.

Lisa Brennan: What?

Steve Jobs: A hundred songs. A thousand songs. Five hundred songs. Somewhere between five hundred and a thousand songs. Right in your pocket. Because I can't stand looking at that ridiculous Walkman anymore. You're carrying around a brick playing a cassette tape. We're not savages. I'm gonna put a thousand songs in your pocket.

Lisa Brennan: You can do that?

Steve Jobs: We're very close. All I have to do really is wipe out the record business as we know it and we'll be all set.

Steve Jobs: What if the computer was a beautiful object? Something you wanted to look at and have in your home. And what if instead of it being in the right hands, it was in everyone's hands?

John Sculley: We'd be talking about the most tectonic shift in the status quo since...

Steve Jobs: ...ever.

Joanna Hoffman: You don't think you're having a bizarre overreaction to a nineteen-year-old girl allowing her mother to list her own house?

Steve Jobs: She could 'a tried...

Joanna Hoffman: She's supposed to stop her mother - that particular mother - from living...

Steve Jobs: She gave Chrisann her blessing to sell the house and she did it to spite me!

Joanna Hoffman: I don't care if she put a pipe bomb in the water heater! You're going to fix it now!

Steve Jobs: She's been acting weird for months. She's turned on me.

Joanna Hoffman: [knocks papers onto the floor] Fix it.

Steve Jobs: What the...

Joanna Hoffman: [knocks more papers onto the floor] Fix it, Steve.

Steve Jobs: Take it easy!

Joanna Hoffman: [knocks even more papers onto the floor] Fix it or I quit, how 'bout that? I quit and you never see me again, how 'bout that?

Steve Jobs: [concerned] Tell me what's wrong with you this morning.

Joanna Hoffman: [has tears in her eyes] What's been wrong with me for nineteen years. I have been a witness, and I tell you I've been complicit. I love you, Steve. You know how much. I love that you don't care how much money a person makes; you care what they make. But what you make isn't supposed to be the best part of you. When you're a father... that's what's supposed to be the best part of you, and it's caused me two decades of agony. Steve... that it is for you... the worst. It's a little thing... it's a very small thing. Fix it. Fix it now or you can contact me at my new job working anywhere I want.

Steve Jobs: I don't want people to dislike me. I'm indifferent to whether they dislike me.

Joanna Hoffman: I'm begging you to manage expectations.

Steve Jobs: Have I ever let you down?

Joanna Hoffman: Every single goddamn time.

Steve Jobs: Then I'm due.

John Sculley: I can't put it more simply than this: We need to put our resources into updating the Apple II.

Steve Jobs: By taking resources from the Mac.

John Sculley: It's failing. That's a fact.

Steve Jobs: It's overpriced.

John Sculley: There is no evidence...

Steve Jobs: I'm the evidence! I'm the world's leading expert on the Mac, John! What's your resume?

John Sculley: You're issuing contradictory instructions, you're insubordinate, you make people miserable, our top engineers are fleeing to Sun, Dell, HP, Wall Street doesn't know who's driving the bus, we've lost hundreds of millions in value and I'm the CEO of Apple, Steve, that's my resume!

Steve Jobs: But before that, you sold carbonated sugar water right? I sat in a fucking garage with Wozniak and invented the future, because artists lead and hacks ask for a show of hands.

John Sculley: Alright, well... this guy's outta control. I'm perfectly willing to hand in my resignation tonight. But if you want me to stay, you can't have Steve. Settle him out. He can keep a share of stock so he gets our newsletter. I'd like the secretary to call for a vote.

Steve Jobs: I fucking dare you.

Steve Jobs: The exit signs have to be off or we're not gonna get a full blackout.

Andrea Cunningham: We've spoken to the building manager and the fire marshal.

Steve Jobs: And?

Andrea Cunningham: They're absolutely no way they're letting us turn the exit signs off.

Steve Jobs: I'll pay whatever the fine is.

Andrea Cunningham: The fine is they're gonna come in and tell everyone to leave.

Steve Jobs: You explained to the fire marshal that we're in here changing the world.

Andrea Cunningham: Well...

Steve Jobs: Did you?

Andrea Cunningham: Yes, but unless we can also change the properties of fire, he doesn't care.

Joanna Hoffman: Steve...

Steve Jobs: If a fire causes a stampede to the unmarked exits, it will have been well worth it for those who survive. For those who don't, less so, but still pretty good.

Andrea Cunningham: Listen...

Steve Jobs: I need it to go black, real black. Get rid of the exit signs, and don't let me know how you did it.

Steve Jobs: The musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra.

Steve Jobs: They won't know what they're looking at or why they like it but they'll know they want it.

Steve Jobs: What is your problem?

Joanna Hoffman: I don't know, but I'm sure it can be traced directly back to you.

Andy Hertzfeld: Skip over - everything else is working, skip over the voice demo.

Steve Jobs: Fix it.

Andy Hertzfeld: In forty minutes.

Steve Jobs: Fix it.

Andy Hertzfeld: I can't.

Steve Jobs: Who's the person who can?

Andy Hertzfeld: I'm the person who can, and I can't.

Steve Jobs: If a fire causes a stampede to the unmarked exits, it'll have been well worth it for those who survive.

Andy Hertzfeld: It's a system error.

Steve Jobs: [annoyed] Fix it!

Andy Hertzfeld: [incredulous] Fix it?

Steve Jobs: Yeah!

Andy Hertzfeld: We're not a pit crew at Daytona. This can't be fixed in seconds.

Steve Jobs: You didn't have seconds. You had three weeks. The universe was created in a third of that time.

Andy Hertzfeld: Well, someday, you'll have to tell us how you did it.

John Sculley: The board believes you're no longer necessary to this company.

Steve Jobs: I sat in a garage and invented the future because artists lead and hacks ask for a show of hands!

Joanna Hoffman: Please, you have to tell me why it's so important for it to say "hello".

Steve Jobs: Hollywood, they make computers scary things. See how this reminds you of a friendly face? That the disk slot is a goofy grin? It's warm and it's playful and it needs to say "hello"!

Joanna Hoffman: The computer in 2001 said "hello" all the time and it still scared the shit out of me.

Steve Jobs: [gesturing to his desktop computer] You see how this reminds you of a friendly face? It's warm and it's playful and inviting and it needs to say, "Hello!"

Joanna Hoffman: If you keep alienating people for no reason, there'll be no one left for it to say "Hello!" to.

Steve Jobs: [after intro video at the launch ends with a close-up of Lisa's face] Remember that painting you did on the original Mac?

[Lisa shakes her head]

Steve Jobs: I do.

Steve Wozniak: This whole place was built by the Apple II... you were built by the Apple II!

Steve Jobs: As a matter of fact I was destroyed by the Apple II and its open systems so that hackers and hobbyists could build ham radios or something! And then it nearly destroyed Apple when you spent all your money on it and developed a grand total of no new products.

Steve Wozniak: The Newton...

Steve Jobs: The little box of garbage. You guys came up with the Newton, it's like you want people to know that. This is a product launch not a luncheon, and the last thing I want to do is connect the iMac to the...

Steve Wozniak: ...to the only successful product that this company has ever made. I'm sorry to be blunt, but that happens to be the truth. The Lisa was a failure, the Macintosh was a failure. I don't like talking like this, but I am tired of being Ringo when I know I was John.

Steve Jobs: Everybody loves Ringo.

Steve Wozniak: And I am tired of being patronized by you!

Steve Jobs: You think John became John by winning a raffle, Woz? You think he tricked somebody or hit George Harrison over the head? He was John because he was John.

Steve Wozniak: He was John 'cause he wrote 'Ticket to Ride', and I wrote the Apple II.

Andrea Cunningham: [to the people in the auditorium watching this] Everybody, I want to...

Steve Jobs: Nobody moves!

Steve Jobs: [to Woz] You made a beautiful board, which by the way you were willing to give out for free, so don't tell me how you built Apple. If it weren't for me, you'd be the easiest 'A' at Homestead High School.

Steve Wozniak: [gesturing around the auditorium] These people live or die by your praise, so here's your chance: acknowledge that something good happened that you weren't in the room for!

Steve Jobs: [after a long pause] No.

Steve Wozniak: Steve... do it! It's right, it's... it's right.

Steve Jobs: Sorry, but no.

Steve Wozniak: Then let me put it another way. I don't think there's a man who's done more to advance the democratization that comes with personal computing than I have, but you've never had any respect for me... now why is that?

Steve Jobs: I'd at least consider the possibility that it's because you've never had any for me.

Joanna Hoffman: [suddenly walking into the auditorium] What the hell is going on here?

Steve Wozniak: [as he walks away] Nothing. Thank you for your time.

Steve Jobs: [to Steve Wozniak] You came a half inch from putting this company out of business. Now who do I see about that? I'm letting you keep your job. You get a pass.

Steve Wozniak: You know, when people used to ask me what the difference was between me and Steve Jobs, I would say Steve is the big picture guy and I like the solid workbench. When people ask the difference now, I say Steve is an asshole. Your products are better than you are, brother.

Steve Jobs: That's the idea, "brother", and knowing that... that's the difference!

John Sculley: You're issuing contradictory instructions, you're insubordinate, you make people miserable.

Steve Jobs: Even if that were true, it doesn't sound that diabolical to me.

Steve Jobs: Everyone, everyone, everyone. Everyone is waiting for the Mac.

Steve Jobs: Hey, Steve Wozniak is sitting out there. Give yourselves a treat and ask if he happens to have the correct time.

Joanna Hoffman: I have the correct time, and we're running out of it.

Steve Jobs: Voicing an objection would've been a step in the right direction.

Steve Wozniak: They want ports!

Steve Jobs: They don't get a vote. When Dylan wrote "Shelter from the Storm" he didn't ask people to contribute to the lyrics. Plays don't stop so the playwright can ask the audience what scene they'd like to see next.

Steve Jobs: There are people 'round here, man, including a member of the press.

Steve Wozniak: I see him.

Steve Jobs: Woz...

Steve Wozniak: The top guys, the ones who are getting laid off.

Steve Jobs: Listen, okay? Last year Apple lost one billion dollars. I don't even know how that's possible. You were less than 90 days from being insolvent. I had three different accountants try to explain it to me. The whole place has to be streamlined.

Steve Wozniak: Start with two of the accountants.

Steve Jobs: I started with the Apple...

Andrea Cunningham: [to the member of the press] Joel, could you come off stage? We're gonna go backstage for a moment...

Steve Jobs: Leave him right there.

Steve Jobs: [to Woz] I started with the Apple II team because we don't, you know, make that anymore.

Steve Wozniak: Just acknowledge the top guys.

Steve Jobs: Have a Mimosa and relax.

Steve Wozniak: You will not blow me off right now, Steve! The tops guys are...

Steve Jobs: There are no top guys, alright? In the Apple II team, there are no top guys. They're B players, and B players discourage the A players, and I want A players at Apple.

Steve Wozniak: They are not B players, and I'm a better judge at that!

Steve Jobs: Less than 90 days from insolvency, and part because somebody thought the Newton wasn't a box of garbage.

Andrea Cunningham: Joel, could you come off...

Steve Jobs: Leave him!

Steve Wozniak: I'm talking about...

Steve Jobs: You guys designed and shipped a little box of garbage while I was gone.

Steve Wozniak: I'm talking about the Apple II! Which is not just a crucial part of this company's history; it is a crucial part of the history of personal computing!

Steve Jobs: For a time!

Steve Wozniak: The least you could do if you're going to downsize these people...

Steve Jobs: They're gonna live in the biggest houses of anyone on the unemployment list.

Steve Wozniak: ...is to acknowledge them! Acknowledge them and the Apple II during this launch!

Steve Jobs: I'm poorly made.

Steve Jobs: Who are you hiding from, me or your mom?

John Sculley: Just relax.

Steve Jobs: Why?

John Sculley: I don't know. No one's ever asked me that question.

[last lines]

Steve Jobs: Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things - they push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Steve Jobs: [narrating] When you grow up, you tend to get told the world is the way that it is, and your life is just to live your life inside the world and try not to bash into the walls too much. But that's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact. And that is that everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that are no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use. To shake off this erroneous notion that life is just there, and you're just gonna live in it, versus embrace it. Change it, improve it. Make your mark upon it. And once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.

Ed Woolard: If you want to get back what you lost, now is the time.

Steve Jobs: I never lost anything. It was stolen from me.

Gareth Chang: [having dismissed the old Apple executives] What are we going to do now?

Steve Jobs: We're gonna put a dent in the universe.

Steve Jobs: Get your shit and get out! You're done.

Francis: What? Are you gonna fire me?

Steve Jobs: No! I ALREADY FIRED YOU!... Why are you still here?

Bill Atkinson: Steve, he, he was our best programmer in the division.

Steve Jobs: He's the best programmer that doesn't care about our vision.

Steve Wozniak: I just wanted to be one of the guys. And of all the guys I knew, you were the coolest. You were smart, quick-witted. This was my chance to do what I loved. And to do it for fun. That's all I ever wanted. I thought that's what you wanted to. Something's happening to you, Steve.

[begins walking away]

Steve Jobs: I'm growing up, Woz.

Steve Wozniak: No. No you're not.

Steve Wozniak: Nobody wants to buy a computer. Nobody!

Steve Jobs: How can somebody know what they want if they've never even seen it?

Steve Wozniak: Huh?

Steve Jobs: We're going to Homebrew...

Steve Wozniak: How about "Enterprise Computers"?

Steve Jobs: No! No Star Trek names, or I swear, I will drive this car right off a cliff.

Steve Jobs: So this is the Macintosh team.

Bill Atkinson: Um hmm.

[startled]

Bill Atkinson: Jesus!

Steve Jobs: No, it's just Steve.

Arthur Rock: [about John Sculley] What the hell makes you think you cn get him? Why would he ever leave Pepsi?

Steve Jobs: Nobody remembers the world best soda salesman.

Steve Jobs: Welcome to Apple Computer.

Rod Holt: Okay, show me this revolutionary piece o' shit.

Jonathan Ive: Steve, we're glad you're back.

Steve Jobs: I'm not back.

Steve Jobs: [as he leaves] Yet...

Steve Wozniak: We can't afford to pay three people right now.

Steve Jobs: We can't afford to pay *ourselves* unless we deliver. And don't worry about Chris, he's just a kid. So he just wants to help.

Steve Wozniak: You're just a kid.

Steve Jobs: I am really excited we have something really special to share with you today. In total, through iMac and PowerBook lines, we've sold over 3 million units this year.

[applause]

Steve Jobs: Okay, that's it.

[huge laughter from the audience]

Steve Jobs: But, ah, maybe there's one more thing.

Paul Terrell: All right, Steve. I'll try to sell. But if I don't, I'm not making another order.

Steve Jobs: Okay, that's fine... But I think you might be really interested in our second model.

Paul Terrell: What's the second model?

Steve Wozniak: What are you talking about?

Steve Jobs: [in an undertone] All-in-one.

Steve Jobs: I need you to re-design.

Rod Holt: Re-design what?

Steve Jobs: Power supply, from scratch. It can't have a fan, can't overheat and needs to fit size in the box. This size.

Steve Jobs: [to Macintosh team] I don't ever want to hear you tell me you can't make it faster.

Steve Jobs: [after trying Macintosh] It's great.

[some of his team laugh]

Steve Jobs: No, it's not... It's insanely great.

[applause]

Steve Jobs: [to Bill Gates on the phone] Let me make this perfectly clear, Bill, so that when I'm finished you can still see through those thick pretentious glasses you psychopathic unimaginative criminal! You stole... my software!

Steve Jobs: We're gonna kill every other project. Everything. This company will not make shit anymore.

Arthur Rock: John, you're roughly quiet.

John Sculley: Yeah, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just lost for words.

Steve Jobs: Head of Marketing, Pepsi genius's lost for words. It's him, not Mac!

Steve Jobs: [pointing the chips on the Apple I board] It's got to be straight, and those more symmetric.

Steve Jobs: Andy Hertzfeld, are you good?