I saw this on the Facebook and have no idea if it’s from Bill Gates or not, but the comments are brilliant for those willing to consider them:
Bill Gates was invited by a high school to give a lecture. This is what he said in five minutes:
1. Life isn’t easy — get used to it.
2. The world is not concerned about your self-esteem. The world expects you to do something useful for it BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
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3. You will not earn $20,000 a month once you leave school. You won’t be vice president of a company with a car and phone available until you’ve managed to buy your own car and phone.
4. If you find your teacher rude, wait until you have a boss. He will not feel sorry for you.
5. Selling old newspapers or working while on vacation is not beneath your social standing. Your grandparents have a different word for it: they call it opportunity.
6. If you fail, it’s not your parents’ fault. So do not whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren’t as critical as they are now. They only got that way from paying your bills, washing your clothes and hearing you say they’re “ridiculous.” So before saving the planet for the next generation wanting to fix the mistakes of your parent’s generation, try cleaning your own room.
8. Your school may have blurred the distinction between winners and losers, but life isn’t like that. In some schools, you don’t repeat more than a year and you have as many chances as you need to get it right. This looks like absolutely NOTHING in real life. If you step on the ball, you’re fired… STREET!!! Do it right the first time!
9. Life is not divided into semesters. You won’t always have summers off, and it’s unlikely that other employees will help you with your tasks at the end of each term.
10. Television is NOT real life. In real life, people have to leave the bar or the club and go to work.
11. Be nice to the CDFs (those students that others think are assholes). There is a high probability that you will work FOR one of them.”