“IF YOU LIVE EACH DAY
AS IF IT WAS YOUR LAST, SOMEDAY YOU’LL MOST CERTAINLY BE RIGHT”

WHEN I LISTENED TO THOSE WORDS FROM HIS HISTORIC 2005 COMMENCEMENT SPEECH AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY, STEVE JOBS HAD NOT YET REVOLUTIONIZED THE CELL PHONE INDUSTRY, UNVEILED THE FASTEST SELLING COMPUTER OF ALL TIME, NOR HAD APPLE BECOME THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANY IN THE WORLD. IN THE DAYS FROM THAT SPEECH UNTIL HIS RECENT PASSING IN OCTOBER 2011, STEVE DEMONSTRATED HOW PRECIOUS AND VALUABLE TIME CAN BE.

At the commencement he said, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” He told us, “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” But most importantly, he stated, “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

Steve’s legacy has inspired us at Restoration Hardware to trust our instincts and follow our heart. The pages of this newly designed Source Book, Outdoor Book and the Special Edition of Big Style/small spaces are filled with examples of our vision to create an inspiring and irreverent style movement. From our new collection of Deconstructed Furniture, to the illustrious cities featured in Big Style/small spaces, to the story of Theo Eichholtz and his Russian oak tables, to the making of our new Houston Gallery, our new collection is void of dogma, full of passion and, most importantly, represents our aspirations of what we truly want to become.

To Steve and the Apple team: Thank you for inspiring our team. And, for proving that those people who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones who usually do.

Carpe Diem,

GARY FRIEDMANCHAIRMAN & CO-CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER