I want to put a ding in the universe.

Steve Jobs used this line in the mid-1990s, during a period when he was leading NeXT after having been forced out of Apple (1985). In interviews from that era, Jobs framed his motivation less as building incremental products and more as making a lasting mark through technology and design—an ambition shaped by his experience founding Apple, his setback in leaving it, and his attempt at NeXT to create “insanely great” computers and software. The quote is most closely associated with a 1995 interview in which Jobs discussed purpose, creativity, and the desire to have an outsized impact rather than merely participate in the status quo.

“Put a ding in the universe” is Jobs’s vivid metaphor for disruptive, consequential innovation. A “ding” suggests a small physical mark, but applied to “the universe” it implies an outsized impact—changing the trajectory of culture, technology, or human behavior. The line also reflects Jobs’s preference for bold, simplifying visions: he reduces the complex aim of world-changing work to a concrete image. In the context of his career, it aligns with his emphasis on making tools that feel inevitable after they exist (Mac, iPod, iPhone), and with his belief that individuals and small teams can reshape large systems.

1) "I’m here to put a dent in the universe." 2) "We’re here to put a dent in the universe." 3) "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."