In 2004 Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and
addressed his illness publicly.
cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m
fine now. This was the closest I’ve been to facing death and
I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. 57
Jobs’s brush with death caused him to look at the direction his
life was taking. It was not too late to make changes. But he found
he did not need to. He was happy with his life. “One thing that
came out most clearly from this whole experience,” he explains. “I
realized that I love my life. I really do. I’ve got the greatest family
in the world and I’ve got my work. And that’s pretty much all I
do. I don’t socialize much or go to conferences. I love my family,
and I love running Apple and I love Pixar. And I get to do that.
I’m very lucky.” 58
Moving Forward
Jobs did not let his coworkers know about his illness until after
his surgery. A month later, he returned to Apple part-time. Soon,
he was back full strength. Under his guidance, Apple continued
Into the Future
79