In ancient Rome, when a victorious general paraded through the streets,
在古罗马,当胜利的将军凯旋时,
legend has it that he was sometimes trailed by a servant whose job it was to repeat to him, "Memento mori":
传说会有一个仆人,在他身边重复“死亡警示”,
Remember you will die.
意思是,记住你终会死亡。
A reminder of mortality would help the hero keep things in perspective, instill some humility.
必死的警示有助于英雄们正确地看待事物,培养谦逊的性格。
Jobs's memento mori had been delivered by his doctors, but it did not instill humility.
乔布斯的死之警示来自医生,但这并未让他谦逊起来。
Instead he roared back after his recovery with even more passion.
相反,在手术恢复后,他的叫嚷更富激情。
The illness reminded him that he had nothing to lose, so he should forge ahead full speed.
疾病提醒着他已没有什么可失去的,因此他应该全速向前、锐意进取。
"He came back on a mission," said Cook.
“他带着一种使命回来了,”库克说。
"Even though he was now running a large company,
“虽然他现在是在掌管一家大企业,
he kept making bold moves that I don't think anybody else would have done."
但他不断采取一些大胆的举动,我觉得除了他任何人都不会这么做。”
For a while there was some evidence, or at least hope, that he had tempered his personal style,
有那么一阵子,有迹象,或者至少有希望表明,乔布斯的个人风格有所缓和,
that facing cancer and turning fifty had caused him to be a bit less brutish when he was upset.
癌症和50岁的来临让他在心烦意乱的时候少了几分粗野。
"Right after he came back from his operation, he didn't do the humiliation bit as much," Tevanian recalled.
泰瓦尼安回忆说:“手术后刚回到公司的时候,他完全没有耐心。
"If he was displeased, he might scream and get hopping mad and use expletives,
如果他不高兴,他会冲人大吼大叫,或者怒气冲天地咒骂对方,
but he wouldn't do it in a way that would totally destroy the person he was talking to.
但是不会做出彻底摧毁对方的举动。
It was just his way to get the person to do a better job."
他那样只是为了让对方做得更好。”
Tevanian reflected for a moment as he said this, then added a caveat:
泰瓦尼安说完沉思了片刻,然后补充道:
"Unless he thought someone was really bad and had to go, which happened every once in a while."
“除非他觉得某人真的很差,必须走人,这种情况每过一阵子就会出现。”