Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 3

[TheRambler]

Here I am again having trouble with translations. This time I want to translate "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." a quote from the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, delivered on June 12, 2005 at Stanford University.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

That is the context, but you may like to read the complete speech. A literal translation is easy, but it doesn't make much sense; as I understand it, he means "Stay Hungry (never believe you have accomplished all). Stay Foolish (never believe you are the smartest)."

How would you rephrase it?

 

[sleipnir214]

I think you have "Stay Hungry" about right. But I would have phrased it "Never be satisfied".

I would rephrase "Stay Foolish" as either "Don't take yourself too seriously" or "Don't be afraid to take risks". Or perhaps both simultaneously.


The problem is that the short sentences have a multitude of overlapping meanings.

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[TheRambler]

I like that, thanks.

"Never be satisfied. Don't take yourself too seriously."

 

[CajunCenturion]

I would take "stay hungry" to continue to grow and meet new challenges. Don't allow yourself to become complacent, but rather continue to grow.

I would translate "stay foolish" as be willing to take some chances, and have some fun. Get out there on the limb, think outside the box, and get crazy once in a while.

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[TheRambler]

Get crazy once in a while? Interesting, maybe I was following his advice without even knowing it.

I have already found some complete translations but they all fail to convey the true meaning as you are pointing out; some of them translate "foolish" as wild, stupid, imbecile, idiot or harebrained, which sound more like an insult to me.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I agree. I don't like using the word 'foolish' in that context at all.

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[johnwm]

I would translate the intention as:

Keep searching, keep learning

i.e. Don't get complacent, and don't think you know it all.

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[KenCunningham]

As The Tams had it: "Be Young, Be Foolish, But Be Happy".

 

[columb]

See also the Tarot where the fool is the highest ranking card (and number 0 in true programmer fashion!)

Columb Healy

 

[TheRambler]

Thanks johnwm for the short sentences, I think I could use them after quoting the original in English. The problem I had with "Stay Hungry" is that the adjective is used figuratively, in Spanish we would rather say "stay thristy (for knowledge)", although I also like "never be satisfied".

KenCunningham
I have never heard The Tams before, for those interested these are the lyrics:

(J.R. Cobb / R. Whitely) 

Be young, be foolish, but be happy 
Be young, be foolish, but be happy 

Don't let the rain get you down, it's a waste of time 
A waste of time 
Have your morn, live every day in the bright sunshine 
Bright sunshine 

Well, it's the same old story all over the world 
Girl meets boy, and boy meets girl 

Oh, be young, be foolish, but be happy 
Be young, be foolish, but be happy 

Life is too short to worry about unimportant things 
Important things 
Reach for the sky, touch your star, find your dream 
Find your dream 

'Cause dreamin' alone, it's a shame indeed 
but if you've got love that's all you need 

So be young, be foolish, but be happy 
Be young, be foolish, but be happy 

Don't let love slip away, slip away 
Live your life for today, for today, oh baby 

Well, it's the same old story all over the world 
Girl meets boy, and boy meets girl 

Oh, be young, be foolish, but be happy 
Be young, be foolish, but be happy 

Be young, be young, be foolish, be foolish, but be happy 
Be young, be young, be foolish, be foolish, but be happy 
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

I guess this song is more about young love and is related to the second part of the speech, "you've got to find what you love". I would be more prone to translate "Stay Foolish" as "don't be afraid to take risks", I guess the spirit is the same.

 

[TheRambler]

columb
After searching a little about Tarot, I guess you are right:
THE FOOL

[b]Basic Tarot Story[/b] 
With all his worldly possessions in one small pack, the Fool travels he knows not where. So filled with visions and daydreams is he, that he doesn't see the cliff he is likely to fall over. At his heel, a small dog harries him (or tries to warn him of a possible mis-step). 

[b]Basic Tarot Meaning[/b]
At #0, the Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasising and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool. 

[b]Thirteen's Observations[/b] 
In the Tarot, cards like The Magician or The Hermit can often stand for the Querent or for someone in the Querent's life. The Fool, however, almost always stands for the Querent alone, no one else. In standing for the Querent, the Fool represents a time of newness, a time when life has been "re-started" as it were. The person feels that they are back at Zero, whether that be in romantic affairs, or career, at their job or intellectual persuits. Far from being sad or frustrating, the Querent feels remarkably *free*, light hearted and refreshed, as if being given a second chance. They feel young and energized. 

In addition, they likely have no idea where they're going or what they're going to do. But that doesn't matter. For the Fool, the most important thing is to just go out and enjoy the world. To see what there is to see and delight in all of it. 

Unfortunately, in this childlike state the person is likely to be overly optimistic or naive. A Fool can be a Fool. This is the card likely to turn up when a Querent is thinking of investing his money in a new, "sure fire" business. Or when the Querent is sure that it's "love this time!" Like the Fool, they're so busy daydreaming of what might be that they're ignoring what is. They're about to fall right off a cliff. Time for them to listen to that watchful little dog, which might be a concerned friend, a wise tarot reader, or just their instincts. 

As a card, the Fool ultimately stands for a new start. When it turns up the Querent might be about to make a move, not just to a new home, but new job, new life. There's more than just change, renewal, and a brand new beginning in the Fool, there's also movement, a fresh, exciting new time.

 

[GwydionM]

Those who can't be foolish, never will be wise. that's from an old Chinese philosopher.

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An old man who lives in the UK

 

[TheRambler]

Now that's what I'd call foolosophy! ;-)
Thanks GwydionM, here's another quote:

I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters.

... and continue with keyboards.

 

[snuv]

Don't point dangerous weapons at fools either, like television cameras. They might be elected.

"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[tgreer]

Martin Hellman, one of the co-inventors of public key cryptography, wrote:

...the way to get to the top of the heap in terms of developing original research is to be a fool, because only fools keep trying. You have idea number 1, you get excited, and it flops. Then you have idea number 2, you get excited, and it flops. Then you have idea number 99, you get excited, and it flops. Only a fool would be excited by the 100th idea, but it might take 100 ideas before one really pays off. Unless you're foolish enough to be continually excited, you won't have the motivation, you won't have the energy to carry it through. God rewards fools.

Thomas D. Greer

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[tsdragon]

I would wholeheartedly agree with that!

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[TheRambler]

More about Martin Hellman.

If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.

From The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

 

[tsdragon]

Doing foolish things (and learning from them) is about the only way I can think of to become really wise. Wisdom comes only from experience (and what you make of it).

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[TheRambler]

Is that Infernal wisdom?

...as the sayings used in a nation, mark its character, so the Proverbs of Hell, shew the nature in Infernal wisdom better than any description of buildings or garments.

Infernal or not, I agree. There is also a saying by Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, from one of his books:

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

So he is not saying "be foolish", but I can understand only beginners (and fools) have something to learn.