Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.
Transcript File · Case #006
$ cat ./quotes --attributed --in-context
Bill Gates Quotes
20 Bill Gates quotes with verified attribution — from The Road Ahead to the 2007 Harvard commencement — each with its source and year. In his own words, in full context. No internet-poster misquotes.
Quotes · 20Attribution · VerifiedSources · Books / Speeches / Letters
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Support this archive →[BUSINESS_STRATEGY.LOG] · 5 on record
Business & Strategy
It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
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.
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.LOG] · 5 on record
Technology
The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.
Software is a great combination between artistry and engineering.
Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.
Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.
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.
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[PHILANTHROPY.LOG] · 4 on record
Philanthropy
Humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries — but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.
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.
I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions, they will be moved to act.
As you improve health in a society, population growth goes down. You know this fact. It just doesn't sink in.
[EDUCATION_LIFE.LOG] · 3 on record
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.
I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one. And I'm still fanatical, but now I'm a little less fanatical.
Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.
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[LEADERSHIP.LOG] · 3 on record
Leadership
Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning.
There are no significant bugs in our released software that any significant number of users want fixed.
Energy innovation is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
[FAQ.LOG] · grep 'did bill gates say'
The Questions Everyone Asks
QUERY_01
What is Bill Gates's most famous quote?
Probably this one, from The Road Ahead (1995): "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." Close behind is his observation from the same book: "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten" — now quoted in nearly every discussion of technology forecasting.
QUERY_02
Did Bill Gates really say he would 'hire a lazy person to do a hard job'?
There is no verified record of Bill Gates ever saying it. The "I choose a lazy person to do a hard job, because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it" line circulates widely online but appears in none of his books, speeches, interviews, or letters. This archive lists only quotes with a verifiable source, and that one doesn't qualify.
QUERY_03
What has Bill Gates said about success and failure?
His most-cited line on the subject — "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose" — comes from The Road Ahead (1995), written shortly after Microsoft became the world's most valuable software company. Gates has repeatedly argued that studying failure is more useful than celebrating wins, a theme that runs through his annual letters and public talks.
QUERY_04
Where do the quotes in this archive come from?
Primary sources only: his books The Road Ahead (1995), Business @ the Speed of Thought (1999), and How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (2021); recorded speeches including the 2007 Harvard commencement address and his TED talks; the Gates Foundation annual letters; and on-the-record interviews. Every quote carries its source and year.
EOF · transcripts.db · 20 attributed quotes — if it isn't sourced, it isn't here
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