"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."

Technology

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Insight & Reflection

The theme of technology is universal, yet Bill Gates manages to capture its essence in a uniquely profound way. Taking a moment to internalize this can shift our mindset, reminding us that our perspective on technology often shapes our reality.

About Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Following Microsoft's initial public offering in 1986 and the subsequent increase in its stock price, Gates became the world's then-youngest billionaire in 1987, at age 31. Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's wealthiest person in their The World's Billionaires list for 18 out of 24 years between 1995 and 2017, including 13 years consecutively from 1995 to 2007. Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999, when his net worth briefly surpassed US$100 billion. According to Forbes, as of July 2026, his net worth stood at US$106.5 billion, making him the 19th-wealthiest individual in the world.

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"Fortitude is the quiet voice at eventide saying: I will try once more tomorrow. Reflect upon this whenever doubt clouds your horizon — an essential principle for the reflective life."

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"It is a subtle truth that he who understands his own mind is never bewildered by the complexities of the world."

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"It is a essential truth that great leaders cultivate leaders, not merely followers — an essential principle for the reflective life."

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"The new freedom of expression brought by the Internet goes far beyond politics. People relate to each other in new ways, posing questions about how we should respond to people when all that we know about them is what we have learned through a medium that permits all kinds of anonymity and deception."

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"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."

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