Leaving Microsoft to Change the World Quotes

“There are two ways to remove a Band-Aid : slowly and painfully, or quickly and painfully. Your choice.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“The biggest risk is that a lot of people will try to talk you out of pursuing your dream. The world has too many people who are happy to discuss why something might not work, and too few who will cheer you and say, "I'm there for you." The more time you spend navel-gazing, the longer you give those negative gravitational forces to keep you in their tether.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“If you are thinking about making some adjustments in you life to allow you to help change the world, my heartfelt recommendation is not to spend too much time thinking about it. Just dive in.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“Setelah manusia menghasilkan banyak uang, dia biasanya menjadi pendengar yang buruk.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“Right now what I need to think about is what would be possible, not all the reasons I can't make a change.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“Sometimes, it's really important to move with all deliberate speed. If there is something out there that you want to do to make the world a better place, don't focus on the obstacles. Don't ask for permission. Just dive in. Don't let the naysayers get you down.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“Look, there are two ways to remove a Band-Aid: slowly and painfully, or quickly and painfully. Your choice.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“A friend had responded to my plea for books by sending me $100, along with a story clipped from the pages of the International Herald Tribune. The article focused on the Queens Public Library system. It was the busiest in the United States, due to the large immigrant population. The article profiled a recent immigrant from Taiwan—Pin-Pin Lin—who brought her two sons to the library twice a week. She insisted that they read in English rather than Chinese and would check out up to 20 books per visit. I thought of my own childhood library trips, and my parents being just as excited as Pin-Pin Lin about the possibilities inherent in reading.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“This was the power of Andrew Carnegie’s legacy. He had used his wealth to set up over 2,000 public libraries across North America. Three generations after his death, they were continuing to pay dividends. These new American citizens were fortunate that Carnegie had thought long-term. For the Taiwanese boys, Carnegie had created the hardware, and their mother the software. This bode well for their assimilation and success in America.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“The UN report was not yet done depressing me. The next section revealed that over 100 million children of primary-school age were not enrolled in school. One hundred million. Mao once said that a single death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“Of the 850 million lacking basic literacy, the UN estimated that two-thirds were women. This had a terrible carryover effect, as it’s typically the women who are rearing the family’s children. If the mother is educated, it is much more likely that education will be passed on to the next generation.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“What struck me first was the UN’s estimate that 850 million people in the world lacked basic literacy. I had to read the number three times to convince myself that it was not too large to be true. The world’s population was around 6 billion people. That meant one out of every seven human beings lacked the ability to read or write a simple sentence.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“a line from Søren Kierkegaard appeared on the first page to which I flipped: “There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.” I”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“It does not matter if we have material wealth. What really matters is—what do we do with it? I have attained financial success at a young age, but that was mostly luck. I just happened to join the right company at the right time. The fact that I have money does not make me a better person. What really matters is what I do with it.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“He suggested that if we were lucky enough to be living a good life, we should recognize this gift and thank God for it by looking out for others who need our help in breaking out of the cycle of poverty.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“The basic fact is that all sentient beings, particularly human beings, want happiness and do not want pain and suffering.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“The events of September eleventh remind us that we live in a very confused world. I think that how we respond says a lot about our capacity as human beings to be optimistic in the face of nihilism, and to prove that light can win out over darkness. I am not saying that education is going to solve all the world’s problems. But it’s something direct, and tangible. We can do it right now. You can go home tonight knowing that within a year, a few new schools will be open. I hope you’ll choose to support our work.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“I knew that I had to free myself from any constraints that would prevent the pursuit of these dreams.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“Did my job really matter? A successful year would only help a rich company get richer.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“Did it really matter how many copies of Windows we sold in Taiwan this month when millions of children were without access to books?”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“if we were lucky enough to be living a good life, we should recognize this gift and thank God for it by looking out for others who need our help in breaking out of the cycle of poverty.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

“The headmaster explained. Books were considered precious. The school had so few that the teachers did not want to risk the children damaging them. I wondered how a book could impart knowledge if it was locked up, but kept that thought to myself.”
― John Wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children