Blog & Company News

Jan 27, 2014

10 Best Quotes From Bill Gates

thEvery now and then, we have to take a break from the super brainy work of digging into the details of small business life, and pause for inspiration from someone who has taken all of these principles and turned then into gold. Or something richer than gold, actually. We’re talking about Bill Gates: entrepreneur, philanthropist, perennial glasses-wearer, epic source of endless wisdom. As important as it is to thinking about content strategies and sales processing, it’s equally essential to being a strong small business leader to always keep in mind the general ideas that guide your principles. We chose Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates because he’s not big on the platitudes; the things he says tend to have universal application as well as very specific, immediate business relevance. So with that in mind, we give you our 10 favorite Bill Gates quotes (thus far; we bet he’s got more gems on the way.):
  • I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.
  • Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.
  • Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
  • As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Until we're educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do.
  • Expectations are a form of first-class truth: If people believe it, it's true.
  • 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.