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Walter's Perspective: Thank You, Steve Jobs

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Along with many people tonight, I'm thinking Steve Jobs.

It's not so much what he did – the iPod and the iPad – but what he said at a commencement on his way to his death about life, that "sometimes it's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith."

And how, "Knowing I'll be dead soon helps me make the big choices in life."

"Because our time is limited, don't let the noise of others' opinion drown out your inner voice."

And "I look in the mirror every morning and ask myself, if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I'm about to do today? When the answer is no too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

Steve Jobs has left me with much more than iPod and Pad, which is this: that no matter who we are and what we do or don't achieve, one thing we all have in common is death, and that thinking about death can lead to making the best of life.

I thank him for his Mac and his phones and pods and pads. I most admire him for his inspiration.

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