比爾·蓋茨（Bill Gates），全名威廉·亨利·蓋茨三世，簡稱比爾或蓋茨。1955年10月28日出生于美國華盛頓州西雅圖，企業(yè)家、軟件工程師、慈善家、微軟公司創(chuàng)始人。比爾·蓋茨13歲開始計算機編程設計，18歲考入哈佛大學，一年后從哈佛退學，1975年與好友保羅·艾倫一起創(chuàng)辦了微軟公司，比爾·蓋茨擔任微軟公司董事長、CEO和首席軟件設計師。比爾·蓋茨1995-2007年連續(xù)13年成為《福布斯》全球富翁榜首富，連續(xù)20年成為《福布斯》美國富翁榜首富。

2000年，比爾·蓋茨成立比爾和梅琳達·蓋茨基金會，2008年比爾蓋茨宣布將580億美元個人財產(chǎn)捐給慈善基金會，2014年比爾·蓋茨辭去董事長一職，并擊退卡洛斯·斯利姆重回世界首富。2014年美國當?shù)貢r間9月29日，《福布斯》發(fā)布美國富豪400強榜單顯示，微軟聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人比爾·蓋茨以810億美元的財富，連續(xù)第21年蟬聯(lián)美國首富寶座。

比爾·蓋茨在斯坦福大學2014年畢業(yè)典禮上的演講以“樂觀”為主線，強調了他對科技，以及對世界美好未來的樂觀態(tài)度。蓋茨講述了自己的親身經(jīng)歷和故事，告訴大學生應該站在他人的立場上，感同身受那些處境不及自己的人，要盡自己所能去幫助那些需要幫助的人，讓全世界所有人都有一樣的美好未來。

Wikipedia Intro

William Henry Bill Gates III （born October 28， 1955） is an American business magnate， philanthropist， investor， computer programmer， and inventor. Gates originally established his reputation as the co-founder of Microsoft， the worlds largest PC software company， with Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft， Gates held the positions of chairman， CEO and chief software architect， and was also the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He has also authored and co-authored several books.

Today he is consistently ranked in the Forbes list of the worlds wealthiest people and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2014-excluding a few brief periods post-2008. Between 2009 and 2014 his wealth more than doubled from $40 billion to more than $82 billion. Between 2013 and 2014 his wealth increased by $15 billion， or around $1.5 billion more than the entire GDP of Iceland in 2014. Gates is currently the richest man in the world.

If empathy channels our optimism， we will see the poverty and the disease and the poor schools. We will answer with our innovations and we will surprise the pessimists.

——Bill Gates

The pessimists are wrong， in my view. But they are not crazy. If innovation is purely market driven， and we dont focus on the big inequities， then we could have amazing advances and in inventions that leave the world even more divided. We wont improve cure public schools， we wont cure malaria， we wont end poverty. We wont develop the innovations poor farmers need to grow food in a changing climate.

Optimism， for me， is not a passive expectation that things are going to get better. For me， its a conviction and a belief that we can make things better. So no matter how much suffering we see， no matter how bad it is， we can help people if we dont lose hope help and if we dont look away.

If our optimism doesnt address the problems that affect so many of our fellow human beings， then our optimism needs more empathy. If empathy channels our optimism， we will see the poverty and the disease and the poor schools. We will answer with our innovations and we will surprise the pessimists.

Over the next generation， you， Stanford graduates， will lead a new wave of innovation. Which problems will you decide to solve？ If your world is wide， you can create the future we all want. If your world is narrow， you may create the future the pessimists fear.

I started learning in Soweto， that if we are going to make our optimism matter to everyone， and empower people everyone， we have to see the lives of those most in need. If we have optimism， without empathy， then it doesnt matter how much we master the secrets of science.

We are not really solving problems. We are just working on puzzles. I think most of you have a broader world view than I had at your age. You can do better at this than I did. If you put your hearts and minds to it， you can surprise the pessimists. We are eager to see it.

在我看來，悲觀者是錯誤的。但是他們并不瘋狂。如果創(chuàng)新僅憑市場驅動，我們都不關注不公正現(xiàn)象，那么我們的重大發(fā)明將令世界的兩極分化更加嚴重。我們不會改善公立學校，我們不會治愈瘧疾，更不會終止貧窮。我們不會研發(fā)出讓貧困農(nóng)民在氣候變化中也能種出植物的發(fā)明。

對我而言，樂觀并非消極地期待事情會變好而是一種相信事情會做得更好的確信和信念。因此不管我們目睹了怎樣的痛苦，不管事態(tài)如何糟糕，如果我們沒有失去希望不轉頭而去，那么我們便能伸出援手。

如果我們的樂觀無法用來解決那些影響許許多多同胞的問題，那么這種樂觀主義還需要融入更多憐憫。如果我們能在樂觀中融入同情，我們就能解決貧困，疾病以及教育匱乏的問題。我們會以創(chuàng)新作答，并震驚那些悲觀主義者。

在下一代中，你們，這些斯坦福畢業(yè)生，將開啟一波創(chuàng)新的新潮。你們會決定解決哪些問題呢？如果你的世界很寬，那么就能創(chuàng)造出我們理想的未來。如果你的世界很狹隘，就會造出悲觀者恐懼的未來。

正如我在索維托所學到的，如果我們要讓自己的樂觀影響所有人，并賦予他們力量，我們就要看到他們最緊迫的需求。如果我們的樂觀沒有融入同情，那么我們掌握多少科學秘密也沒有任何用處。

我們沒有真正解決問題。我們只是在玩智力游戲罷了。我想，你們中的大多數(shù)人比當時的我視野更寬廣。你們會比曾經(jīng)的我做得更出色。如果你們全身心地投身于此，你們便能震驚那些悲觀者。我們對此迫不及待。