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.

The outside perception and inside perception of Microsoft are so different. The view of Microsoft inside Microsoft is always kind of an underdog thing.

You can go overboard in how quickly you might expect new technologies to transform people's lives. But I very much believe the way software is used, the way information gets distributed, will be dramatically different within 10 years. There is fire to go with all this smoke.

I don't have a magic formula for prioritizing the world's problems.

According to Ethiopian custom, parents wait to name a baby because children often die in the first weeks of life.

If you're taking care of your family and society and are comfortable you can start to think about helping those most in need globally. That's how we became engaged in those things.

Life is a lot more fun if you treat its challenges in creative ways.