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Quotes

20quotes from books, speeches, and interviews — in his own words.

Business & Strategy

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

— Bill Gates

The Road Ahead, 1995

Business & Strategy
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It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.

— Bill Gates

Business @ the Speed of Thought, 1999

Business & Strategy
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Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

— Bill Gates

Business @ the Speed of Thought, 1999

Business & Strategy
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We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.

— Bill Gates

The Road Ahead, 1995

Business & Strategy
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The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.

— Bill Gates

Business @ the Speed of Thought, 1999

Business & Strategy
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Technology

The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.

— Bill Gates

Business @ the Speed of Thought, 1999

Technology
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Software is a great combination between artistry and engineering.

— Bill Gates

Various interviews, 1996

Technology
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Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.

— Bill Gates

Playboy interview, 1994

Technology
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Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.

— Bill Gates

Various interviews, 1985

Technology
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The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don't really even notice it, so it's part of everyday life.

— Bill Gates

Various interviews, 2005

Technology
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Philanthropy

Humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries — but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.

— Bill Gates

Harvard Commencement Address, 2007

Philanthropy
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If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not.

— Bill Gates

Gates Foundation Annual Letter, 2009

Philanthropy
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I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions, they will be moved to act.

— Bill Gates

World Economic Forum, Davos, 2008

Philanthropy
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As you improve health in a society, population growth goes down. You know this fact. It just doesn't sink in.

— Bill Gates

TED Talk, 2010

Philanthropy
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Education & Life

I really had a lot of dreams when I was a kid, and I think a great deal of that grew out of the fact that I had a chance to read a lot.

— Bill Gates

American Academy of Achievement interview, 2010

Education & Life
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I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one. And I'm still fanatical, but now I'm a little less fanatical.

— Bill Gates

Various interviews, 2005

Education & Life
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Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.

— Bill Gates

Gates Notes, 2015

Education & Life
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Leadership

Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning.

— Bill Gates

Various interviews, 2000

Leadership
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There are no significant bugs in our released software that any significant number of users want fixed.

— Bill Gates

Fortune magazine, 1995

Leadership
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Energy innovation is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

— Bill Gates

TED Talk: Innovating to Zero!, 2010

Leadership
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