The only definition by which America's best days are behind it is on a purely relative basis.
— Bill Gates
Investing for the poor requires participation from the entire community.
We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well.
Ninety percent of the cases of polio are in security-vulnerable areas.
Whether I'm at the office, at home, or on the road, I always have a stack of books I'm looking forward to reading.
I'm an investor in a number of biotech companies, partly because of my incredible enthusiasm for the great innovations they will bring.
Music, even with these dial-up connections you have to the Internet, is very practical to download.
I agree with people like Richard Dawkins that mankind felt the need for creation myths. Before we really began to understand disease and the weather and things like that, we sought false explanations for them. Now science has filled in some of the realm - not all - that religion used to fill.
Software substitution, whether it's for drivers or waiters or nurses - it's progressing. Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill set.
Capitalism has shortfalls. It doesn't necessarily take care of the poor, and it underfunds innovation, so we have to offset that.
If I hadn't given my money away, I'd have had more than anyone else on the planet.
It's OK for China to invent cancer drugs that cure patients in the United States. We want them to catch up. But as the leader, we want to keep setting a very, very high standard. We don't want them to catch up because we're slowing down or, even worse, going into reverse.
Well-spent aid money is saving lives for a few thousand dollars per life saved.
The belief that the world is getting worse, that we can't solve extreme poverty and disease, isn't just mistaken. It is harmful.
Personally, I'd like to see more of our leaders take a technocratic approach to solving our biggest problems.
There certainly is a case to be made that taxes should be more progressive.
People should just buy a CD and rip it. You are legal then.
Innovation is moving at a scarily fast pace.
China has many successful entrepreneurs and business people. I hope that more people of insight will put their talents to work to improve the lives of poor people in China and around the world, and seek solutions for them.
A lot of the things that will really improve the world fortunately aren't dependent on Washington doing something different.
Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up.
When Paul Allen and I started Microsoft over 30 years ago, we had big dreams about software. We had dreams about the impact it could have.
I've always been interested in science - one of my favourite books is James Watson's 'Molecular Biology of the Gene.'
Some people, through luck and skill, end up with a lot of assets. If you're good at kicking a ball, writing software, investing in stocks, it pays extremely well.
It's a nice reader, but there's nothing on the iPad I look at and say, 'Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.'
Bitcoin is mostly about anonymous transactions, and I don't think over time that's a good way to go. I'm a huge believe in digital currency... but doing it on an anonymous basis I think that leads to some abuses, so I'm not involved in Bitcoin.
If people want capital gains taxed more like the highest rate on income, that's a good discussion. Maybe that's the way to help close the deficit.
Historically, privacy was almost implicit, because it was hard to find and gather information. But in the digital world, whether it's digital cameras or satellites or just what you click on, we need to have more explicit rules - not just for governments but for private companies.
I have been struck again and again by how important measurement is to improving the human condition.
India has over 20 percent of the kids born in the world. And they move around a lot.
There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil.
The world at large is less inequitable today than at any time in history. Number of people in abject poverty, as a percentage, is at all-time low.
The most amazing philanthropists are people who are actually making a significant sacrifice.
There is a difference between what technology enables and what historical business practices enable.
I believe the returns on investment in the poor are just as exciting as successes achieved in the business arena, and they are even more meaningful!
The idea that you encourage companies to take their innovative thinkers and think about the most needy - even beyond the market opportunities - that's something that appropriately ought to be done.
By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world. Almost all countries will be what we now call lower-middle income or richer.
I don't generally read a lot of fiction.
Eventually, all companies are replaced.
I like the idea of putting your Christmas wish list up and letting people share it.
Most poor people live in the poorest countries.
Skype actually does get a fair bit of revenue.
Windows 8 is key to the future, the Surface computer.
Philanthropy should be voluntary.
Connectivity enables transparency for better government, education, and health.
By improving health, empowering women, population growth comes down.
Headlines, in a way, are what mislead you because bad news is a headline, and gradual improvement is not.
Digital technology has several features that can make it much easier for teachers to pay special attention to all their students.
I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars; there's a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that.
In order to deal with all the medical cost demands and other challenges in the U.S., as we look to raise that revenue, the rich will have to pay slightly more. That's quite clear.
