Janet CollinsBill Gates' Eleven Rules of Life
December 30th 2008 09:51
I recently saw this speech posted on a billboard. After researching it on the internet, I found the speech but could not find any reference to when Bill Gates delivered it. I thought it was well worth sharing.
It is an excerpt from a speech to the Mt Whitney High School, Visalia, California. It is Bill Gates' take on the real world, the world outside of the school gates. It has some great messages for kids, kids parents and anyone who has ever had delusions about what's out in the real world - which probably means most of us.
Here's what he said:
"Rule 1: Life is not fair-get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 Thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping-they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. You have to do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."
There are some pretty good messages in there don't you think?
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Comment by Damo
However they seem very level headed.
Comment by Janet Collins
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I have no idea whether or not he made this up himself or if it was a clever speechwriter. But some of the points are good so who cares?
Thanks for the visit and take care!
Comment by moonglow
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Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks.
Comment by Chris Champion
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The list is a brilliant bit of writing, but its connection with Bill Gates is apochryphal, as snopes.com explains here. Still well worth a post of course. I'm going to print a thousand copies of these rules and wrap my daughter's school lunch in them for the next few years
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Thanks.
Comment by Lilla
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What a wonderful message to put out for the coming year! *lol* ... there is plenty there to fill the lists of all resolutions, isnt there?! *ROFL* What a braniac, cant help but love him. Yes, the last one is too funny ... can you imagine all the girls who truned him down for a date?
Anyeehoo, if you havent already seen it there is an autobiographical film that was made about Gates and Steve ~ apple mac~ and how they got their start in life. It is called; Pirates of Silicon Valley and I highly recommend it as living history. I found it fascinating and can understand where he got these mottos from.
*chuckle* For me each one is a gem which should be framed, but i particularly like : 1, 5, 6, 7 and paticularly (perhaps my favourite) No: 10!!!!
Spot on Mr Gates (or whoever the author was)....
Lilla ....
Comment by Janet Collins
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All of them were pretty good to me but I particularly liked No 7.
And as Chris points out there is some doubt that the excerpt is not from one of Gates' speeches but attributed to someone else entirely.
Who cares. I loved it anyway.
Have a great new year and I look forward to our blogging conversations in 2009.
Comment by Anonymous
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There seems to be a version that it is not a Bill Gates speech but in the end it doesn't really matter. I like it anyway.