Source Code by Bill Gates
I just finished reading Source Code yesterday and I cannot express what an inspiring adventure it was. I loved how you can vividly see the passion and drive - the mindset - that allowed Bill Gates to achieve all that he did. And the narration is also very honest about the challenges he faced and mistakes he made. Here just like the "Surely your Joking Mr Feynman" blog, I'm going to list some of my favourite quotes:
- “That summer I thought a lot about how a person becomes the very best at something. Norton was such a commanding figure, peerless in his talent and professionalism. I tried to understand what he had that other programmers didn’t. What does it take to be 20 percent better than everyone else? How much is that just latent talent versus dedicated effort—being relentlessly focused and deliberate about performing better today than you did the day before? And then repeating that tomorrow and the next day and the next for years and years?”
- “At its core, science requires a wildly curious mind that can tame itself with discipline and scepticism.”
- “hyperfocus”
- “That fall we basically lived in that room in a loop of writing programs, having them fail, and trying again and again. Our grades suffered, our parents worried. But we learned and learned quickly. It was the most fun I’d ever had at school.”
- “PRINT 2+2 4 OK With that, the first piece of software written for the first personal computer came to life.”
- “Her faith probably had a role in shaping her into an extremely principled person. Even back then, I could grasp that Gami followed a strict personal code of fairness and justice and integrity. A life well-lived meant living simply, giving your time and money to others, and, most of all, using your brain—staying engaged with the world. She never lost her temper, never gossiped, or criticized. She was incapable of guile. Often she was the smartest person in the room, but she was careful to let others shine. She was basically a shy person, but she had an inner confidence that presented as a Zen-like calm.”
- “On the surface, the difference between hiking and programming couldn’t have been greater. But they each felt like an adventure.”
- “I channelled the same intensity that drew me into solving the puzzle of Gami’s card skill into anything that interested me—and nothing that didn’t.”
- ALL QUOTES ARE FROM "SOURCE CODE:MY BEGGININGS - BILL GATES"
