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Remembering my father
- mattr47 6y agoIncredible tribute to his Dad. I really appreciate how he gives credit to them as a safety net when he left Harvard.
- sktrdie 6y agoSuch wholesome words from a man that has everything. As a Serbian proverb says: “Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars.”... applies perfectly to Gates.
- sedatk 6y agoWhat's the Serbian version of the proverb if you don't mind sharing?
- cyphar 6y agoBased on some searches it appears to be "Budi skroman jer si stvoren od zemlje. Budi plemenit jer si stvoren od zvezda." / "Буди скроман јер си створен од земље. Буди племенит јер си створен од звезда." But note that "noble" isn't really the right translation for "plemenit" (despite what Google translate might tell you) -- it's closer in meaning to "selfless" or "generous" (which you could argue are noble attributes, but "noble" has certain connotations in English that "plemenit" doesn't). But to me it still doesn't sound right. I asked my mom (native Serbian speaker) and she said she's not heard of it as a proverb, and some Googling reveals that native Serbians are confused why foreigners seem to attribute it to us[1]. I also weirdly found a lot of questions on Quora and Yahoo answers asking for people to translate it to Serbian -- which explains why the proverb sounds slightly strange when read in Serbian. My guess is that this is actually some recent English proverb which someone decided to attribute to us (though it is neat that "zemlje" and "zvezda" do have a certain kind of rhyme). [1]: https://www.svetnauke.org/95-srpska-poslovica https://www.svetnauke.org/95-srpska-poslovica
- afarrell 6y agoPerhaps its an English proverb which caught on amidst a community of Serbian expats/immigrants.
- cyphar 6y agoMaybe, but it doesn't sound right when written in Serbian. For comparison, here is an actual Serbian proverb literally translated to English: "Bolje vrabac u ruci, nego golub na grani" means "better to have a sparrow in your hand than a pidgeon in a tree." Far less poetic than the native English bird-holding proverb "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" (which sounds strange when translated to Serbian as well -- "ptica u ruci vredi dve ptice u šumi", despite the fact it happens to rhyme). Proverbs and sayings have a specific kind of poetry in their native language which doesn't survive translation. It seems much more likely to me that it was simply misattributed.
- oska 6y agoBased on what cyphar is saying in this thread, my (somewhat cynical) take is that someone made it up recently and tried to give it an air of 'old wisdom' by falsely attributing it as a Serbian proverb. (I also think this supposed saying is quite hokey and dumb. The earth is as much 'made of stars' as we are.)
- EL_Loco 6y agoEvery now and then somebody I know will post a photo with a proverb mistakenly attributed to some historical figure. It's not uncommon for the proverb to be very simple, not very deep, such that I immediately discard it as made-up and not really written by the famous figure. There's actually quite a lot of this. Many bad lines attributed to great poets float around the net.
- RickJWagner 6y agoLove that proverb. Thanks for sharing.
- raz32dust 6y agoIs it an old proverb? Never heard of any culture that considered human beings to be made of stars. It is fascinating because now we know that we literally are made of stars.
- cyphar 6y agoI asked my mom (native Serbian speaker) and she said she's not heard of it as a proverb, and some Googling reveals that native Serbians are confused why foreigners seem to attribute it to us[1]. I also weirdly found a lot of questions on Quora and Yahoo answers asking for people to translate it to Serbian -- which explains why the proverb sounds slightly strange when read in Serbian. My guess is that this is actually some recent English proverb which someone decided to attribute to us (though it is neat that "zemlje" and "zvezda" do have a certain kind of rhyme). [1]: https://www.svetnauke.org/95-srpska-poslovica https://www.svetnauke.org/95-srpska-poslovica
- salex89 6y agoSerbian here... Also never heard of it. But I suspect that it has something to do with another, similar one: U dobru se ne ponesi, u zlu ne ponizi/У добру се не понеси, у злу не понизи. Which roughly (because it is archaic) translates to: Be humble when all is good (in good fortune), do not submit to evil (bad, unfortunate, hard) times.
- goatherders 6y agoI have never read/heard that saying but reading it this evening made me smile. Thank you for sharing. Reminds me of my own favorite: "you are a ghost driving a meat covered skeleton made of stardust travelling on a rock through outer space. Fear nothing."
- tempsy 6y agoEvery time Bill Gates comes up in the news I'm reminded by how insane the conspiracy theories surrounding him have become on social media, more so now than ever.
- canada_dry 6y agoI think for some people it's just really hard imagining that Gates pivoted his ruthless passion for business (emphasis on ruthless) into a genuine mission to make the world - especially the impoverished - a better place. Feeney, Buffett, and Gates need to be celebrated and revered way more than sports and movie idols IMHO.
- colourgarden 6y agoCould you give a summary of how Bill Gates is viewed by "the average American"? As a Brit, I think he's just viewed as "the rich computer guy". It's hard to fathom that people think he's involved with political topics.
- triyambakam 6y ago> It's hard to fathom that people think he's involved with political topics. Maybe hard to fathom, but just have a closer look and you'll see he has a lot of irons in the fire
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- iancmceachern 6y agoCheck out the work of the Gates foundation, working to eliminate Polio, etc.
- Aeolun 6y agoMuch less so than any owner of Twitter, Google or Facebook is anyway. Microsoft is just selling unopinionated software to all businesses in the world. Out of all FAANG they’re the least politically aligned.
- gridspy 6y agoWhat a moving tribute. It is a great reminder to cherish the time we have with those we love now. Do great things together and inspire each other. I'm glad that Mr Gates got the chance to enjoy and develop his relationship with his dad into adulthood.
- hangonhn 6y agoThe Starbucks story involving his father is incredible. Schultz had actually left Starbucks and started his own coffee chain (Il Giornale) when the founders of Starbucks didn't want to expand the number of stores. They mostly just wanted to roast coffee. When the chance to buy Peet's came up, they decided to buy that instead and put Starbucks up for sale. Schultz was actually super passionate about Starbucks and jumped at the opportunity to buy it. Then one of his investors from Il Giornale tried to undercut him by putting in a higher bid for Starbucks. Bill Gates' dad was apparently a highly respected lawyer in the Seattle area and Schultz went to him for help. Bill Gates Sr. called the investor and gave him some tough talks and the investor withdrew his bid. It's incredible that senior Gates did that out of a sense of fairness and righteousness. Source: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wondery/business-wars/e/67717289 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wondery/business-wars/e/677... (This is the start of the series. The story itself is a few episodes into the series)
- throwaway5752 6y agoThanks for the link. It is incredible to think that one man was substantially, if indirectly and in very different ways, involved in creating both Starbucks and Microsoft. It's a nice story and a reminder of the place for ethics and personal reputation in business.
- nuclearnice1 6y agoI guess I need to dig a little deeper into that Starbucks thing. But if I was an owner of Starbucks and Bill Gates Sr called the high bidder and scared him off so someone else could buy my business for less, I don’t know if I’d ever forgive that. It doesn’t strike me as fair or righteous.
- hangonhn 6y agoI see what you're saying. Here's the CNBC version of it: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/04/bill-gates-sr-helped-howard-schultz-buy-starbucks.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/04/bill-gates-sr-helped-howard-... It sounds like the Starbucks owners already offered it to Schultz and gave him 90 days to buy it and it was an exclusive offer. Part way through fundraising, an Il Giornale investor caught wind of it and approached Starbucks with a higher bid. I think the fact that Starbucks had offered it to Schultz first and then his own investor tried to undermine him and Il Giornale is sort of rotten and underhanded. I think the fact that Starbucks had offered it to Schultz first and agreed on a price and Il Giornale's own investor tried to undermine the deal is where things get a little shady. Apologies for telling the story poorly and missing some important details.
- andrewclunn 6y agoOh joy. Another fluff piece designed to make Bill Gates look good. Drink that propaganda! Gulp it down.
- goldforever 6y agoLOL, useless
- viksit 6y agoPersonal anecdote. I ran into Bill Gates and his dad at the Taj Mahal once when I was there visiting with family. I remember being struck with how tall he was, and their stark height difference! I was 22 at the time and being a huge fan, I walked up to them - except Bill jr thought I was trying to sell him something and preemptively said no thanks and started to walk away. Bill sr, however, took a minute and engaged with me with a smile and the two of them talked to me for a couple of minutes about the Taj and what got me into tech. I remembered this friendliness today on reading this. And that last line about overusing the word incredible really resonates. RIP.
- bena 6y agoFor anyone curious, Bill Gates is 5'10", his father was 6'7". That's an inch taller than magician Penn Jillette.
- deepzn 6y agowow hard to believe he didn't get the tall genes, but got the smart ones. :D
- quickthrower2 6y ago5'10 is above the median nonetheless.
- stjohnswarts 6y agoOnly by 1"
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- alberto_ol 6y ago5'10" = 1.78m, 6'7" = 2.01m
- atum47 6y agoyeah, I've watched the Netflix show about Bill Gates, he said that in the show: that his father is the real Bill Gates. really cool. I don't think he reads HN comments, but if he does, my condolences. I'm very attached to my father either and I can't imagine life without him. All the best
- Aeolun 6y ago> The truth is, he was everything I try to be. I can only hope that my children will talk like this about me some day.
- trentnix 6y agoMy father died just over 7 years ago. I think about and miss him every day. I am supremely grateful that I had a father that demanded well of me and was honorable. My sincerest condolences and prayers to Mr. Gates’s family and friends. What a gift to have had such a long life and a good relationship with those he loved.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- alex_young 6y agoDeleted. Didn't intend to offend anyone.
- site-packages1 6y agoThis is super non sequitur on a post about Mr. Gates’s father passing. It’s even slightly callous.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- bluedevil2k 6y agoThis should be flagged and removed for breaking the HN rule of “don’t be an a*e”
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- chromedev 6y agoUgh, Gates is essentially run a PR and marketing campaign nonstop now to keep the attention of his relationship with Epstein.
- rootusrootus 6y agoAll the money in the world can't bring your dad back. I still think about mine and miss him every day.
- ananonymoususer 6y agoTaught him everything -- except ethics.
- balls187 6y agoWhat a very touching tribute to his father.
- kumarvvr 6y agoWe Hindus believe in the law of Karma. Gates Jr. would have had some real good karma in his bank to have had a father like Gates Sr. It's only in later years, upon reflection, we can understand how much we become is the influence of our parents and especially of our father. I feel really pained to see so many places in the world where children grow up without fathers. No one in the world can replace the roles played by parents in a kids life.
- sshlocalhost 6y agoRight !
- rickdangerous1 6y agoPeople who grew up with good fathers, have no idea how fortunate they are. Even after they think they do. Having a bad father puts wounds in your psyche that most people can never heal.
- kilroy123 6y agoCouldn't agree more.
- fergie 6y agoAll of the articles on gatesnotes are so well written- I wonder if Bill Gates writes these completely by himself or if he gets help?
- b3lvedere 6y agoMay you rest in peace Mr. Gates. At the moment your son is doing great things for humanity.
- cryptica 6y agoBill Gates should use his money to lobby politicians to address deep systemic issues instead of trying to cover up the symptoms with philanthropy. One of the main problems is the continuous 'printing' of money and the way it is distributed into the economy. It doesn't make sense that all the newly printed money goes to wealthy institutions and individuals first, it doesn't trickle down. If they want to keep the money printer running, then that money needs to go to everyone equally; this means UBI (Universal Basic Income) - Otherwise we'll just end up with the insane politics that we have today; where the rich who are in close proximity to the money printers wield way too much power over politics. I used to have respect for Bill Gates (Jr), but not anymore. If he really cares about others, he should dedicate most of his energy to fixing our corrupt fiat monetary system. Also, he should lobby for government to abolish corporate personhood and the overall concept of limited-liability corporations. The entire financial system is a scam, it's a giant ponzi scheme. Once you do the research, it's impossible to operate properly in this system. There are many very talented, hard working people today who are being pushed out of the system into joblessness because they realize how pointless all the jobs have become and how rigged the system is because of the distortions caused by unlimited money printing. The situation we have is total madness. People are angry and they're right to be because the system is a scam and rewards scammers. In my case I'm fortunate to have passive income so I can focus on open source full time, I cannot in my right mind go back to working for a corporation based on what I know now. I will not knowingly participate in this scam just because it's legal and everyone is doing it. I'm not going to be like those who supported Hitler on the basis that everyone else did. If anyone needs proof, I highly recommend watching 'The Hidden Secrets of Money' on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0 Warning: If you're a rational person and you watch the first 7 episodes, you will lose all faith in the system.
- turing_complete 6y agoI wonder if Gates might support longevity research now. He wants to save lives and improve the human condition. Ending Malaria is great, ending aging would be the greatest thing ever.
- Hitton 6y agoNo, it wouldn't. Either it would be only for rich and create extreme resentment or it would lead to extreme overpopulation, that would lead to things like one-child policies, reproduction lotteries, eugenics etc. all of which would create resentment again.
- jeroenhd 6y agoEnding aging would only serve to make the rich immortal while the poor still suffer. I think it would create the biggest distance between the common folk and the elite that history has ever known. Even if such technology would be available to the entire world, it would still not solve the issue of overpopulation and the pollution associated with it. Why invest into making a few thousand immortal when you can help billions with much simpler anti-malaria programs?
- PavleMiha 6y agoI agree with you that abolishing malaria is probably a better place to put our resources, but I disagree that ending ageing would only make a few thousand rich people immortal. There's nothing to say that the treatments would be that expensive. It's possible we find cheap therapeutics, or expensive ones that we can make cheap and accessible. Ageing related deaths are higher than malaria deaths, and ageing places a huge burden on all our systems.
- InitialLastName 6y agoCan you imagine the demand curve for an anti-aging treatment? You're right that it's possible the therapeutics will be cheap to produce, but the price that the wealthy would bear for such a treatment would lead to dramatically more revenue than you could make from setting it at a price that more than half of the world could bear. No fiscally responsible entity would make something like that affordable to the entire world in the modern era.
- comboy 6y ago> The experience of being the son of Bill Gates was incredible. I think that is a typo, but a very telling one.
- jmercouris 6y agoIt isn't, his father has the same name.
- kumarvvr 6y agoI never got he reason or the origin, but people named William are called Bill, and those named Robert are called Bob. Does anyone know why?
- maceurt 6y agoWas a member of the eugenics society of America and was on the board of planned parenthood. Used his power and connections to pull strings for Microsoft and help it become a behemoth that threatens the fair market of desktop operating systems and open source software. The Gates family is a criminal organization hell bent on control.