Bill Gates is a pioneer in tech, business and philanthropy.
The Microsoft founder grew the company into the giant it is today. Since leaving day-to-day operations in 2014, Gates has turned his full attention to solving global problems with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he oversees with his wife.
The recent Netflix documentary, “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates,” takes a fascinating look at the man behind the magnate. While the three-part series seems to take as its subject the Gates Foundation, it offers a rare glimpse into Bill’s habits, like his compulsive reading (“I’ve been with him on vacation and he’ll read 14 books,” a friend says), or his punctuality (“He is on time to the minute, every single meeting without fail,” says Lauren Jiloty of Gates Ventures).
Gates has a net worth of $105.7 billion. The amount was enough to surpass Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man on Friday when the Amazon stock fell 7%. Bezos regained top spot by Friday afternoon, with his net worth bouncing back to $109.9 billion at the time markets closed.
Even allowing for market fluctuations, you don’t need to be a computer whiz to know that Gates is wildly successful. These are some of Gates’ best quotes on success and accomplishments.
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.
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Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world... if you do so, you are insulting yourself.
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Patience is a key element of success.
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I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.
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If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
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Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
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Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
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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 10. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.
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To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.
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Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning.
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A bad strategy will fail no matter how good your information is, and lame execution will stymie a good strategy. If you do enough things poorly, you will go out of business.
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Customers want high quality at low prices and they want it now.
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Only a few businesses will succeed by having the lowest price, so most will need a strategy that includes customer services.
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It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
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We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.
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As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
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The most amazing philanthropists are people who are actually making a significant sacrifice.
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If all my bridge coach ever told me was that I was ‘satisfactory,’ I would have no hope of ever getting better. How would I know who was the best? How would I know what I was doing differently?
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Legacy is a stupid thing! I don’t want a legacy.
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Lectures should go from being like the family singing around the piano to high-quality concerts.
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Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it ‘tap-dancing to work.’
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The belief that the world is getting worse, that we can’t solve extreme poverty and disease, isn’t just mistaken. It is harmful.
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Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point.
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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.
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Life is not fair, get used to it.
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If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.
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If your culture doesn’t like geeks, you are in real trouble.
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Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.
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The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
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Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
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I realized about 10 years ago that my wealth has to go back to society. A fortune, the size of which is hard to imagine, is best not passed on to one’s children. It’s not constructive for them.
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