The government is there day in and day out, if you want all kids to have education, if you want to run courts, if you want to have an army, if you want to have roads, you've got to have the taxation system that funds everything that you expect.
Bill GatesThe year I was born, 1955, the first big disease-eradication program in the world was declared for malaria. After about a decade of work, they realized that, at least in the tropical areas, they did not have the tools to get it done.
Bill GatesHarnessing steam power required many innovations, as William Rosen chronicles in the book 'The Most Powerful Idea in the World.'
Bill GatesWhenever you have multiple devices including multiple PCs that you want to share information with, it's always been a bit complicated.
Bill GatesOur modern lifestyle is not a political creation. Before 1700, everybody was poor as hell. Life was short and brutish. It wasn't because we didn't have good politicians; we had some really good politicians. But then we started inventing - electricity, steam engines, microprocessors, understanding genetics and medicine and things like that. Yes, stability and education are important - I'm not taking anything away from that - but innovation is the real driver of progress.
Bill Gates