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I learned about serif and san-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.
我學習寫帶短截線和不帶短截線的字體，根據不同字母組合調整其間距，并學習怎樣把版式調整得更好。這門課太棒了，既有歷史價值，又有藝術造詣，這一點科學就做不到，我覺得它妙不可言。當時我并不指望書法在我以后的生活中能有什么使用價值。但是，十年之后，我們在設計第一臺Macintosh計算機時，它一下子浮現在我眼前。于是，我們把這些東西全都設計進了Macintosh計算機中。這是第一臺有這么漂亮的文字版式的計算機。要不是我當初在大學里偶然選了這門課，Macintosh計算機絕不會有那么多種印刷字體或間距安排合理的字號。
And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later.
要不是 Windows 照搬了 Macintosh, 個人電腦可能不會有這些字體和字號。要是我當初沒有退學，我絕不會碰巧選了這門書法課。個人電腦也可能不會有現在這些漂亮的版式了。當然，我在大學里不可能從這些點滴上看到它與將來的關系，十年之后再回頭看，兩者之間的關系就非常、非常清楚了。
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever—because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.
你們同樣不可能從現在這個點上看到將來；只有回頭看時，才會發現它們之間的關系。所以，你們要相信這些點滴遲早會連接在一起。你們必須相信某些東西——勇氣、命運、生命、以及因果報應，等等。要相信，這些點會為你鋪平前進的道路，會給與你聽從自己的心聲的自信，會引導你走自己的路，然后取得成就。
