Melinda Gates Quotes

I don't do 'gamification,' and I'm not prepared to stand up and say, 'I think it works.'

Some of the [Indian] national [sanitation] habits are beyond description, and yet so ingrained as to defy all human effort [to reform.]

Technological innovations [in public health] that come from basic science have to be transformed from discovery to delivery, and that gap is huge.

Culture is the silent killer of innovation.

What I'm trying to do is teach people how to actually get individuals in organizations to do the kinds of things to make a difference. It starts with not just studying the mechanics but really understanding how people operate.

I am not really superstitious but do follow certain established norms.

Simply having rules does not change the things that people want to do. You have to change incentive.

It is extremely hard to break bad habits and takes a long time to start new, healthy ones.

I feel motivated everyday by seeing people and listening to them when it comes to fitness.

An effective leader is able to reach people in their natural environment and extract their experiences and knowledge about the issues that impact them.

What motivates most people to change their behavior is consequences. No consequences? No behavior modification.

How can you make the people change? How can you reach them in their heart? I do not have the answers for this.

I think about willpower almost never. I realize for myself, trying to be more disciplined is pretty nebulous and it's often a slippery target. For me, I've just thought about incentives.

Make war not on terrorism but on ignorance, on sickness and on environmental degradation.

In the past, most wars were motivated by the idea of nationhood. Today, however, wars are incited above all using religion as an excuse.

You can't make the people do what you want them to do. You've got to get everybody to see what you seein' or you gonna be a damn fool.

Republican or Democrat candidate for Presidency ought to say: I look forward to working with the president to solve the problem. People expect us to come here to solve problems. And thus far, the attitude has been: Let's just kind of ignore what the president has said and just hope somebody else comes and solves it for us. And that's what I'd be running on. I'd be running on the economy and I'd be running on national security. But since I'm not running, I can only serve as an adviser to those who are.

People would do better, if they knew better.

Comedy can reach many more people than, say, a serious lecture on the topic. And comedy might just be the access point to reach people who want to be entertained and also learn something.

To me the analogy [to climate change] is... doctors worry a lot about cholesterol. And if you go to the doctor, and the doctor says "oh, your life would be happier if you ate a different diet and exercised" people pay no attention.

Great leaders understand that the right attitude will set the right atmosphere, which enables the right response from others.

Education campaigns ... may not be enough, at least not alone. If people have no incentive to avoid AIDS on their own, even if they know everything about the disease, they still may not change their behavior.

People don’t pay much attention to anything unless you give them reason to

You've just got to get people organized and tell them the truth. There aren't any magic tricks to it. You know, sometimes it's pretty amazing. Actually, I mentioned a pretty striking case of this in "Crisis and Hope," which was the Caterpillar case in the early 1990s.

When I'm starting to feel, "How many more people are there?" I go slower. I ask questions, and that person engaging with me gives me energy.