People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results. 

What we want to do is make a leapfrog product that is way smarter than any mobile device has ever been, and super-easy to use. This is what iPhone is. OK? So, we're going to reinvent the phone.

Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; The way you play it is free will.

It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. 

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

I know, to banish anger altogether from one's breast is a difficult task. It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort. It can be done only by God's grace.

Bad men are full of repentance.

I have done one thing that I think is a contribution: I helped Buddhist science and modern science combine. No other Buddhist has done that. Other lamas, I don't think they ever pay attention to modern science. Since my childhood, I have a keen interest.

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay.