35 Bill Gates Quotes For Motivation, Success And Inspiration

William Henry Gates (born on October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, software developer, and philanthropist. He's best known as the co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the position of chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief software architect while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. 

Bill Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs and pioneers of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. Along with the businessman Gates, also an author, some of his books were among New York bestselling books like The Road Ahead. In this article, we will be reading about the best 35 Bill Gates quotes for success, motivation, and inspiration.

1. Life is not fair, get used to it.

Though Gates has revolutionized the tech industry and changed the world through his foundation, that doesn't mean it was easier for him when he started than it is for anyone else. Not everything in his life has meant success. In the above quotation, Bill Gates meant life is equally unfair to all, you just have to accept the challenges it offers and move forward constantly with consistency. 

2. Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

Bill Gates has always believed in learning and the above Bill Gates quote resonates with it. In fact, when he was asked for some suggestions on how to become successful in life he suggested never stop learning. This quotation also means the same, that when it comes to feedback bad news is good news, take the bad news and make use of it in your product,  a new source of learning. He believed unhappy customers can be utilized for the good future of your company.

3. It's fine to celebrate success but it's more important to heed lessons of failure.

Success can mean happiness, peace, and perfection. No one can achieve them without facing failures. Failure is a clear indicator that something isn't right. It's the feedback that conveys a message that what you have been doing doesn't work. In this Bill Gates quote, he meant celebrating is good but analyzing failures is more important which gives you excellent background on how you can achieve your goals and provide you with valuable experience that will be of great use to face your new challenges. 

4. As we look ahead in the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.

This is one of the most powerful Bill Gates quotes. Here, he means being focused on creating an environment that balances autonomy with support, pressure with balance, and which pays attention to people's fundamental human need to matter. Conscious leadership is releasing that you don't have the answer to everything but you can get by radical listening and growing together with delivery engines (the people you employ).

5. If you can't make it good, at least make it look good.

In my opinion, this Bill Gates quote is so useful for us who have not much knowledge or experience in life. We cannot be sure to do everything well but we have to have the thinking that we must make it good at least from the outside, which is the first thing that comes to the others. We all agree that the first impression is so important that you have to make it good.

6. Often you have to rely on intuition.

All too often, we hear this term "gut feeling" and it's quite intimidating to see people listening to some unknown force, being guided by it, the sixth sense, perhaps. I know decisions should be made wisely and practically, especially in business considering all the terms and data but sometimes rational data and rational analysis and data are impractical to be employed in certain situations. In the above Bill Gates quotes, he is elaborating the concept of decision making with intuitions. 

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

This is one of the futuristic Bill Gates quotes. In other words, Bill Gates meant, the internet has become the central hub of information and a common meeting ground for the inhabitants of all corners of the Earth. The digital world gives endless opportunities for learning, sharing ideas, and information globally. The Internet is not just a place for communication but the web has become a marketplace to start any business, for entrepreneurship. 

8. Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.

This statement is quite contradictory especially by one of the most intellectual shareholders worldwide, Bill Gates. I've researched the reason for him making this statement. It turns out that Microsoft files plentiful patent applications every year but they get rejected because something like that already exists in the market in the form of a prior art i.e. it doesn't qualify the criteria of obtaining a patent over the innovation.

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

Next in our Bill Gates quotes list is one presenting Bill Gates thoughts on success. Success in your life is a lousy teacher indeed. Repeated success may even cause you to begin thinking that you can't or won't lose. Or, that you don't need to consider other ways to accomplish goals, dreams, and potential. Thinking you can't or won't lose is a very dangerous way of thinking and living.

10. I failed in some subjects in exams, but my friends passed it all. Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I'm the owner of Microsoft.

The above quote reflects Bill Gates’ thoughts on success again. A piece of paper can't decide your future. Isn't this quote (by Thomas Edison) a perfect definition of the above quotation of Bill Gates? Academic marks are not your life. Many people who didn't score well in academics are the biggest worldwide entrepreneurs now. This Bill Gates quote tells us to consider failure as part of a successful life.

11. Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world.. if you do you are insulting yourself.

This one is from the Bill Gates motivational quotes treasure. It was very well said by Gates that every person in this world is unique and he has his own strong and weak points. Therefore, it is wrong to compare yourself with others and it is equal to insulting yourself.

12. I chose a lazy person to do a hard job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.

Perspective? Gates said so because he noticed lazy workers eliminated unnecessary movement and reduced fatigue. He also discovered that expert workers were the most wasteful of their motion and strength. They could produce a large quantity of good work, but they tired themselves out of all proportion to the amount of work they accomplished. These are the Bill Gates thoughts that distinguish him from the rest of the world.

13. If you're born poor it's not your mistake, but if you die poor it's your mistake.

Either way, it can never stop a truly motivated person from living their dream of being something successful. However, if you die poor it can be your mistake as it means that you may have not had the motivation to build your wealth despite having little or nothing. This Bill Gates quote motivates you to work harder and earn enough to die rich.

14. Microsoft has had its success by doing low-cost products and constantly improving those products and we've redefined the IT industry to be something that's about a tool for individuals.

You don't have to be first, but you have to keep learning, that's all the above Bill Gates quotation says.

15. We all need people who give us feedback. That's how we improve.

Can you write a book and announce it as a best seller without readers giving any feedback? Nope? Exactly, when you work on something you need feedback, good-bad, doesn't matter, feedback depends on your work. But primarily, you need feedback either to improve you're or encourage yourself. 

16. There is nothing that was done overnight.

Entrepreneurs looking to achieve overnight success should read this quote by Bill Gates. The initial versions of the Windows operating system were not that successful but his persistence made Windows the most popular operating system in the world.

17. Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up.

Bill Gates has been a great philanthropist, money for him always meant a tool to help discriminated and poor people. When you are discriminated you face so many challenges on daily basis and it's not easy to come up tearing each layer of discrimination. These are the Bill Gates thoughts that make him loved by so many of us.

18. No matter how much money you have, you can't buy more time.

Bill gates always teach young entrepreneurs the value of time so that they refrain from whiling away their precious work hours. That is why he advises entrepreneurs to pick their battle carefully.

19. The most amazing philanthropists are people who are making a significant sacrifice.

Gates himself, being a philanthropist, has sacrificed so much. He said in an interview he didn't believe in vacations. He had worked through weekends and skipped vacations to build Microsoft into a leading tech company in the early years.

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

Another Bill Gates quote on success is here. Framing a problem is simply how you look at a problem, just like how you frame a picture. It's about choosing what to focus on, what's in and what's out. When you frame a problem, you bound it. Framing also helps you get a better perspective on the problem, as well as share the problem more effectively with others.

21. The most important speed issue is often not technical but cultural. It's convincing everyone that the company's survival depends on moving as fast as possible.

To stay competitive in a saturated startup world, you should move at a faster speed and focus on continuous innovation. This is what Bill Gates did and succeeded and wants young entrepreneurs to follow his example. Need more motivation? Keep reading this Bill Gates quotes list.

22. If you don't build your dreams someone else will hire to build theirs.

Here are some inspirational thoughts from the Microsoft founder. Bill Gates became a boss at a fairly early age. He deserved it, and it put him in an excellent position with pure control over his success.

23. All lives have equal value.

Bill Gates has a strong belief in the above quotation. He says to help those who can't help themselves. Everybody deserves a chance at their best life. Lift the underdogs of the world up.

24. Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.

This Bill Gates quote reflects his humble personality. He set a powerful example of taking care of employees, from private offices for developers to create a workplace of extreme empowerment, engagement, and passion.

25. If you want to win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.

These words of Bill Gates are a great source of inspiration for entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks to achieve better rewards.

26. Legacy is a stupid thing! I don’t want a legacy.

According to Bill Gates, his children will be given an unbelievable education and that will all be paid for. And certainly anything related to health issues we will take care of. But in terms of their income, they will have to pick a job they like and go to work.

27. Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point.

Gates revealed that money is not much important to him beyond a certain point. He says money's utility is entirely in building an organization and getting the resources out to the poorest in the world.

28. If you think your teacher is tough, wait ’til you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.

Sure, there are those awesome teachers that you'll remember the rest of your life, the ones that put in the actual effort for their students instead of just memorizing some tantra and sticking with it for the next few decades. This is also true for bosses, like the Bill Gates you described. So many people have terrible bosses compared to teachers. There's good teachers, bad teachers, great bosses, horrible bosses. This Bill Gates quote was to inspire you to become your own boss in a way.

29. People should just buy a cd and rip it. You are legal then.

Bill Gates said that no one is satisfied with the current state of DRM, which “causes too much pain for legitimate buyers” while trying to distinguish between legal and illegal uses. He also criticized DRM schemes that try to install intelligence in each copy so that it is device-specific.

30. The belief that the world is getting worse, that we can’t solve extreme poverty and disease, isn’t just mistaken. It is harmful.

Bill Gates has always believed in changing the future, not of him only but the world. And in this quotation also, he's asking for not showing hopelessness and disbelief. A problem is a problem if we believe it so. If you can change your mindset, you can conquer the world.

31. 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.

The above quote by Bill Gates is perfectly justified by one of Buddha's quotes. Do what you love, love what you do. You can't live with a profession that you don't like. So choose wisely when it comes to your profession especially.

32. Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.

In the above Bill Gates quote, he says, technology provides teachers with various tools to engage and motivate the student to work on assignments.  Teachers must not rely on the tools for teaching students because it is not the tools, itself, that help students learn.  It is how the tool is used.   It is our responsibility, as teachers, to guide our students to the correct sources of information that will help them achieve their goals.

33. Climate change is a terrible problem, and it needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority.

So rightfully Bill Gates has explained the climate change occurring, it really should be our priority. According to him, energy consumption is good, it just needs to be clean energy. As he sees it the biggest challenge is not persuading Americans to buy more efficient refrigerators or trade; it's figuring out how to raise the standard of living in the developing world without wrecking the climate.

34. Power comes not from knowledge kept but from the knowledge shared.

Once again, this Bill Gates quote reflects upon his philanthropic nature. The old saying “Knowledge is power” sometimes makes people keep the knowledge to themselves. They believe that this makes them more valuable to the company. Power comes not from knowledge kept, but from the knowledge shared.

35. 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.

The world changes fast. The market changes faster. This Bill Gates quote, the last in this list is to inspire you to start building your empire on a sustainable business model. There will be no time when everything will be in your favour. Start early and stay ahead of your rivals.

We hope these Bill Gates quotes motivated and inspired you in the best possible way. There is a lot to learn from this great personality if you wish to make your success consistent, proactive, ever-changing, and worth remembering.

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