Bill Gates

"Staying committed to these principles requires constant effort and creativity."

"The richest place on Earth is the graveyard of unrealized dreams."

"Opportunities are usually found in the places we didn't look."

"The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself."

"If you are born poor it is not your mistake, but if you die poor it is your mistake."

"Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world. If you do so, you are insulting yourself."

"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much when he is wrong as when he is right."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

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

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

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

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

"Life is not fair; get used to it."

"The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it is possible."

"Money is not everything. There's MasterCard."

"If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure."

"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

"We are not just here to make a living; we are here to enrich the world, and we impoverish ourselves if we are not doing that."

"Technology is best when it brings people together."

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

"If you are born poor, it's not your fault. If you die poor, it is."

"The best charities I have known do two things. They have a real degree of accountability to the people they're supposed to serve. And they're constantly working on making themselves unnecessary."

"Patience is a key element of success."

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work."

"If you think optimism is blind, you have to study the data."

"My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused on a few things."

"The way to be successful is to focus on getting better every single day."

"Key person insurance is the recognition that people are the most important asset."

"The most important thing is that we continue to focus on improving health and the lives of people in the developing world."

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