Bill Gates—Live and Let Live
比尔·盖茨——不懈的追求
William H. Gates is chairperson and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation， the worldwide leader in software services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
Bill Gates was born on October 28， 1955 in a family having rich business， political and community service background. His great-grandfather was a state legislator and a mayor， his grandfather was vice president of national bank and his father was a lawyer.
Bill strongly believes in hard work. He believes that if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence， you can achieve anything. From childhood Bill was ambitious， intelligent and competitive. These qualities helped him to attain top position in the profession he chose. In school， he had an excellent record in mathematics and science. Still he was getting very bored in school and his parents knew it， so they always tried to feed him with more information to keep him busy. Bill's parents came to know their son's intelligence and decided to enroll him in a private school， known for its intense academic environment. It was a very important decision in Bill Gate's life where he was first introduced to a computer. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in computer and formed “Programmers Group” in late 1968. Being in this group， they found a new way to apply their computer skill in university of Washington. In the next year， they got their first opportunity in Information Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. ISI (Information Sciences Inc.) agreed to give them royalties whenever it made money from any of the group's program. As a result of the business deal signed with Information Sciences Inc.， the group also became a legal business.
Bill Gates and his close friend Allen started new company of their own， Traf-O-Data. They developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project they earned around $20，000. The era of Traf-O-Data came to an end when Gates left the college. In 1973， he left home for Harvard University. He didn't know what to do， so he enrolled his name for pre-law. He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard's toughest mathematics courses. He did well over there， but he couldn't find it interesting too. He spent many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next day asleep in class. After leaving school， he almost lost himself in the world of computers. Gates and his friend Paul Allen remained in close contact even though they were away from school. They would often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one fine day. At the end of Bill's first year， Allen came close to him so that they could follow some of their ideas. That summer they got job in Honeywell. Allen kept on pushing Bill for opening a new software company.
Within a year， Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft. Microsoft's vision is “A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer”. Bill is a visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hard work has put him where he is today. He does not believe in mere luck or God's grace， but just hard work and competitiveness. Bill's Microsoft is good competition for other software companies and he will continue to stomp out the competition until he dies. His beliefs are so powerful， which have helped him increase his wealth and his monopoly in the industry.
Bill Gates is not a greedy person. In fact， he is quite a giving person when it comes to computers， internet and any kind of funding. Some years back， he visited Chicago's Einstein Elementary School and announced grants benefiting Chicago's schools and museums where he donated a total of $110，000， a bunch of computers， and provided internet connectivity to a number of schools. Secondly， Bill Gates donated 38 million dollars for the building of a computer institute at Stanford University. Gates plans to give away 95% of all his earnings when he is old and gray.
威廉·H·盖茨是微软公司的主席兼首席软件工程师。微软是全球软件服务、个人及商业网络技术的领军企业。
1955年10月28日，比尔·盖茨出生在一个具有深厚商业、政治及社区服务背景的家庭。比尔的曾祖父是州立法委员，曾任市长；祖父是国家银行的副主席；父亲是一位律师。
比尔坚信只有努力奋斗才会成功。他认为如果你有才能并且知道如何去正确运用这份才能，你就会梦想成真。比尔从小就志向远大，勤奋刻苦，敢于竞争。这些品质帮助他在所选的职场上所向无敌。在学校里，比尔的数学和理科成绩都非常优秀，但他却对去学校学习越来越不感兴趣。比尔的父母注意到了他的这点变化，于是他们想方设法用更多的知识来填满他的求知胃口，使他不断思考和学习。父母逐渐意识到儿子具有一种非凡天赋，并决定将他送入一家以浓厚学术氛围闻名于世的私立学校读书。这一决定是比尔·盖茨的一生中的重要契机，因为在那所学校他有幸第一次与计算机结缘。1968年酷爱电脑的比尔·盖茨和他的朋友们成立了“程序员小组”，这为他们在华盛顿大学里大展拳脚提供了有利空间。第二年他们在信息科学有限公司获得了第一份工作，被纳为程序员。如果公司利用他们的专利获得收益，该公司同意给予他们专利权使用费。在与信息科学有限公司正式签约后，这个“程序员小组”成了一个合法公司。
比尔·盖茨和好朋友艾伦创办了一家自己的公司——交通数据公司。他们一起研发出一种小型电脑来测量交通流量。从这个项目中，他们赚了2万美元。盖茨离校后，交通数据公司也就随之解散了。1973年盖茨离家去哈佛大学深造。开始时他懵懵懂懂地选择学习法律预科，步入标准程序式的大一课程学习，此外他还选修了最难的数学课。虽然比尔在哈佛表现出色，但却逐渐对上课学习失去了兴趣。他选择在学校的电脑前度过漫漫长夜，然后在课堂上蒙头大睡。离校后，他几乎沉溺在电脑世界里。虽然当时盖茨和保罗·艾伦已不在同一所学校读书，但仍保持着频繁的联系，经常在一起讨论对未来的规划，设想在时机成熟时再创办公司。大一那年暑假，艾伦来到比尔身边，于是他们能将一些想法付诸实践。那年夏天他们在霍尼韦尔公司找到一份工作。可艾伦仍不断地敦促比尔要自己开创软件公司。
一年不到，比尔就从哈佛辍学了。然后他成立了一家自己的公司——微软。微软的目标是要让“每台桌上都有电脑，每台电脑都用微软软件。”比尔是一个有远见并能够为此进行不懈努力的人。他坚信是才能和勤奋使他获得了今日这番成就。比尔不相信偶然的幸运或上帝的眷顾，他只相信努力工作和竞争。比尔的微软公司，对其他的软件公司来说，是个强大的竞争对手。而他也会将竞争进行到底！他那份坚定的信念帮助他积累财富，使他成为行内的霸主。
然而，比尔·盖茨绝不吝啬。他在电脑、互联网及以其他方面都慷慨出资。几年前，比尔参观了芝加哥爱因斯坦小学，宣布将捐献价值11万美元的电脑赠给当地学校及博物馆，并为一些学校免费提供互联网连接服务。继而，比尔·盖茨又出资3800万美元来建立斯坦福大学计算机学院。盖茨还计划着在他垂暮之年把自己95%的财富全都捐献出去。
译者感言
对每个人来说，比尔·盖茨的大名都如雷贯耳，谁不知道美国有个富有的天才比尔·盖茨呢！
然而，成功不是靠运气。正如文中所说：“比尔·盖茨并不相信偶然的幸运和上帝的眷顾，只有努力奋斗才能取得成功。”如果谁只想在家老实坐着就获得成功的话，就无异于痴人说梦了。不劳而获的思想就像毒瘤一样，会滋生在那些懒惰的、不思进取的人的身上，到最后还是自己吃苦受罪。韩愈说过，业精于勤荒于嬉，行成于思毁于随；爱因斯坦认为，成功=艰苦劳动+正确方法+少说空话；爱迪生则肯定地告诉我们，天才就是百分之九十九的汗水加百分之一的灵感。这些成功人士都是在以他们的成功经历来教育我们，要想获得成功就要态度端正、努力奋斗。没有免费的午餐，只有天道酬勤的奖赏！
