Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

　　There's a phrase in Buddhism, 'Beginner's mind.' It's wonderful to have a beginner's mind.It is the kind of mind that can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything. Beginner's mind is Zen practice in action. It is the mind that is innocent of preconceptions and expectations, judgements and prejudices. Think of beginner's mind as the mind that faces life like a small child, full of curiosity and wonder and amazement.

　　Steve Jobs said: “You know, we don’t grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved… I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.”

　　Each lesson might be difficult to integrate into your life at first, but if you ease your way into each lesson, one at a time, you'll notice an immediate improvement in your overall performance. So go ahead, give them a try.

　　Steve Jobs said: “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.”

　　I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.Over the last decade, numerous books featuring lessons from historical figures have appeared on the shelves of bookstores around the world. And Socrates stands with Leonardo da Vinci, Nicholas Copernicus, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein as a beacon of inspiration for independent thinkers. But he came first. Cicero said of Socrates that, "He called philosophy down from the skies and into the lives of men." So use Socrates' principles in your life, your work, your learning, and your relationships. It's not about Socrates, it's really about you, and how you can bring more truth, beauty and goodness into your life everyday.

　　Steve Jobs said: “We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”

　　Steve Jobs said: “I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”