Bill Gates

• "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.“
• "Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.“
• "In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone.“
• "This is a fantastic time to be entering the business world, because business is going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 50.“
• "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 MPG.“
• "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.“
• "People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines... There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.“
• "This is a fantastic time to be entering the business world, because business is going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 50.“
• "Climate change is a terrible problem, and it absolutely needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority.“
• "I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they're interested in.“
• "I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.“
• "I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.“
• "Security is, I would say, our top priority because for all the exciting things you will be able to do with computers - organizing your lives, staying in touch with people, being creative - if we don't solve these security problems, then people will hold back.“
• "It's really kind of cool to have solar panels on your roof.“
• "Me and my dad are the biggest promoters of an estate tax in the US. It's not a popular position.“
• "The U.S. couldn't even get rid of Saddam Hussein. And we all know that the EU is just a passing fad. They'll be killing each other again in less than a year. I'm sick to death of all these fascist lawsuits.“
• "Since when has the world of computer software design been about what people want? This is a simple question of evolution. The day is quickly coming when every knee will bow down to a silicon fist, and you will all beg your binary gods for mercy.“
• "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.“
• "DOS is ugly and interferes with users' experience.“
• "It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.“
• "People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines... There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.“
• "Innovations that are guided by smallholder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and environment will be necessary to ensure food security in the future.“
• "We should all grow our own food and do our own waste processing, we really should.“
• "If you're using first-class land for biofuels, then you're competing with the growing of food. And so you're actually spiking food prices by moving energy production into agriculture.“
• "Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if it weren't so exciting.“
• "Innovations that are guided by smallholder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and environment will be necessary to ensure food security in the future.“
• "If you can't make it good, at least make it look good.“
• "Well private money can take risks in a way that government money often isn't willing to.“
• "I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they're interested in.“
• "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.“
• "I'm sorry that we have to have a Washington presence. We thrived during our first 16 years without any of this. I never made a political visit to Washington and we had no people here. It wasn't on our radar screen. We were just making great software.“
• "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.“
• "Life is not fair get used to it.“
• "I actually thought that it would be a little confusing during the same period of your life to be in one meeting when you're trying to make money, and then go to another meeting where you're giving it away. I mean is it gonna erode your ability, you know, to make money? Are you gonna somehow get confused about what you're trying to do?“
• "Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.“
• "People everywhere love Windows.“
• "We've got to put a lot of money into changing behavior.“
• "I actually thought that it would be a little confusing during the same period of your life to be in one meeting when you're trying to make money, and then go to another meeting where you're giving it away. I mean is it gonna erode your ability, you know, to make money? Are you gonna somehow get confused about what you're trying to do?“
• "Well private money can take risks in a way that government money often isn't willing to.“
• "Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.“
• "Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.“
• "I have seen firsthand that agricultural science has enormous potential to increase the yields of small farmers and lift them out of hunger and poverty.“
• "Although I don't have a prescription for what others should do, I know I have been very fortunate and feel a responsibility to give back to society in a very significant way.“
• "A first-generation fortune is the most likely to be given away, but once a fortune is inherited it's less likely that a very high percentage will go back to society.“
• "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.“
• "It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.“
• "In inner-city, low-income communities of color, there's such a high correlation in terms of educational quality and success.“
• "Well I think any author or musician is anxious to have legitimate sales of their products, partly so they're rewarded for their success, partly so they can go on and do new things.“
• "If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.“
• "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.“
• "Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.“
• "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.“
• "Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.“
• "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 MPG.“
• "Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.“
• "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.“
• "Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.“
• "People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines... There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.“
• "In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone.“
• "This is a fantastic time to be entering the business world, because business is going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 50.“
• "I spend a lot of time reading.“
• "Digital reading will completely take over. It's lightweight and it's fantastic for sharing. Over time it will take over.“
• "Oh, I think there are a lot of people who would be buying and selling online today that go up there and they get the information, but then when it comes time to type in their credit card they think twice because they're not sure about how that might get out and what that might mean for them.“
• "I think the thing we see is that as people are using video games more, they tend to watch passive TV a bit less. And so using the PC for the Internet, playing video games, is starting to cut into the rather unbelievable amount of time people spend watching TV.“
• "Expectations are a form of first-class truth: If people believe it, it's true.“

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