Melinda Gates Quotes

“Optimism is a huge asset. We can always use more of it. But optimism isn't a belief that things will automatically get better; it's a conviction that we can make things better.”

“Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them is the strongest force we have to change the world.”

“Philanthropy is not about the money. It's about using whatever resources you have at your fingertips and applying them to improving the world.”

“A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.”

“All lives have an equal value.”

“Connect deeply with others. Our humanity is the one thing that we all have in common.”

“When we invest in women and girls, we are investing in the people who invest in everyone else.”

“If you don't set your own agenda, somebody else will.”

“Every society says its outsiders are the problem. But the outsiders are not the problem; the urge to create outsiders is the problem.”

“As women gain rights, families flourish, and so do societies.”

“Poverty is the most disempowering force on earth.”

“That is the secret of an empowering education: A girl learns she is not who she's been told she is. She is the equal of anyone, and she has rights she needs to assert and defend. This is how the great movements of social change get traction: when outsiders reject the low self-image society has imposed on them and begin to author a self-image of their own.”

“Every society says its outsiders are the problem. But the outsiders are not the problem; the urge to create outsiders is the problem. Overcoming that urge is our greatest challenge and our greatest promise.”

“As women gain rights, families flourish, and so do societies. That connection is built on a simple truth: Whenever you include a group that's been excluded, you benefit everyone.”

“Being a feminist means believing that every woman should be able to use her voice and pursue her potential, and that women and men should all work together to take down the barriers and end the biases that still hold women back.”

“Poverty is not being able to protect your family. Poverty is not being able to save your children when mothers with more money could. And because the strongest instinct of a mother is to protect her children, poverty is the most disempowering force on earth.”

“When people can't agree, it's often because there is no empathy, no sense of shared experience. If you feel what others feel, you're more likely to see what they see.”

“I mistakenly thought that philanthropy could change things more than it could. I didn't realize that it takes philanthropy in concert with civil society and government — massive government funding — to change things.”

“Smart as hell, obviously. But in terms of seeing the whole picture, she's smarter.”

“Here's what keeps me up at night: I imagine waking up one morning to find that the country has moved on. That the media has stopped reporting on systemic inequalities. That diversity remains something companies talk about instead of prioritizing. That all of this energy and attention has amounted to a temporary swell instead of a sea change.”

“I am so happy to be away from all the muck.”

“Giving away money your family will never need is not an especially noble act.”

“I have rage. It's up to me to metabolize that and use it to fuel my work.”

“I mistakenly thought that philanthropy could change things more than it could. It takes philanthropy in concert with civil society and government — massive government funding — to change things. Philanthropy cannot do it on its own.”

“I want this world to be better in the United States for my granddaughter than it is today. Right now, she has less rights than I had growing up.”