[Matt F]

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

If you agree, pass it on.
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English -Thank a soldier!!

[Dave]

Spot on Matt !!

Reminded me of this story.....not sure if it's true or not, but very good either way

Subject: Graduation speech

I thought you would get a kick out of this speech that Larry Ellison (Oracle CEO) gave at Yale University to the Graduating class of 2000. What follows is a transcript of the speech delivered by Ellison at Yale University last month:

"Graduates of Yale University, I apologize if you have endured this type of prologue before, but I want you to do something for me. Please, take a good look around you. Look at the classmate on your left. Look at the classmate on your right. Now, consider this: five years from now, 10 years from now, even 30 thirty years from now, odds are the person on your left is going to be a loser. The person on your right, meanwhile, will also be a loser. And you, in the middle? What can you expect? Loser. Loserhood. Loser Cum Laude.

In fact, as I look out before me today, I don't see a thousand hopes for a bright tomorrow. I don't see a thousand future leaders in a thousand industries. I see a thousand losers. You're upset. That's understandable.

After all, how can I, Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, college dropout, have the audacity to spout such heresy to the graduating class of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions? I'll tell you why. Because I, Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, second richest man on the planet, am a college dropout, and you are not. Because Bill Gates, richest man on the planet-for now anyway-is a college dropout, and you are not. Because Paul Allen, the third richest man on the planet, dropped out of college, and you did not. And for good measure, because Michael Dell, No. 9 on the list and moving up fast, is a college dropout, and you, yet again, are not.

Hmm ... you're very upset. That's understandable. So let me stroke your egos for a moment by pointing out, quite sincerely, that your diplomas were not attained in vain. Most of you, I imagine, have spent four to five years here, and in many ways what you've learned and endured will serve you well in the years ahead. You've established good work habits. You've established a network of people that will help you down the road. And you've established what will be lifelong relationships with the word "therapy." All that of is good. For in truth, you will need that network. You will need those strong work habits.

You will need that therapy. You will need them because you didn't drop out, and so you will never be among the richest people in the world. Oh sure, you may, perhaps, work your way up to #10 or #11, like Steve Ballmer. But then,I don't have to tell you who he really works for, do I?

And for the record, he dropped out of grad school. Bit of a late bloomer.

Finally, I realize that many of you, and hopefully by now most of you,are wondering, "Is there anything I can do? Is there any hope for me at all?" Actually, no. It's too late. You've absorbed too much, think you know too much. You're not 19 anymore. You have a built-in cap, and I'm not referring to the mortarboards on your heads.

Hmm ... you're really very upset. That's understandable.

So perhaps this would be a good time to bring up the silver lining. Not for you, Class of '00. You are a write-off, so I'll let you slink off to your pathetic $200,000-a-year jobs, where your checks will be signed by former classmates who dropped out two years ago.

Instead, I want to give hope to any underclassmen here today. I say to you, and I can't stress this enough:

LEAVE. Pack your things and your ideas and don't come back. Drop out. Start up. For I can tell you that a cap and gown will keep you down just as surely as these security guards dragging me off this stage are keeping me dow..."

(At this point The Oracle CEO was ushered off stage.)

[Steve]

You've gotta love rule 11 when you take it in context of Bill Gates giving the speech. Who said Bill had no sense of humour

[stepheno]

Both extracts are spot on but how many people who need that sort of advice can't/wont read it

[orangepeel]

bloody republicans

[Rob Barron]

Interesting headline grabbr but in reality complete nonsense.... the Larry Ellison one, not the Bill Gates one. Bill makes some good points and will be saddened because the teens listening will ignore him.

The Ellison audience will think he got it right and will fail to see that actually he was wrong. Why? He is supremely rich and yet he dropped out. He must be right.... right?

No, wrong, very, very wrong! Come on Rob, explain your idiotic conclusion and give us all a laugh....

Ok, I will! Success is a 7 letter word with only 4 different letters. Nothing to do with my conclusion but makes a point: you can measure 'success' in a thousand different ways. You can be an Ellison who dropped out, made it anyway and is now mega-rich. Or you can say he is the ultimate failure because he was gifted with the ability to wipe out poverty in the poorest country in the world and he didn't... and millions die from malnutrition every year because he didn't... he failed!

A bald, dhoti-wearing hindu with a silly moustache, got thrown off a trian for refusing to be pushed around by a white but stupid train conductor. He ended up being shot dead. His name was Mohatma Gandhi.... and he wasn't a failure.

A frail but determined catholic nun gave up a privileged lifestyle to stay poor so she could start an orphanage for the down and out children on the streets of Calcutta. She won the Nobel Peace Prize twice and never kept a penny for herself. When asked why she bothered and how could she hope to feed all the millions of starving kids in india, Mother Teresa wisely replied: 'One at a time!'.... she was poor but was not a failure!

A black 'nobody' in segregated USA refused to give up her seat to a white woman and go to the back of a bus 'where she belonged'. Her actions could have got her killed. Instead she was one of the brave people whose actions brought an end to segregation and its evils. Rosa Parks was not rich, famous or particularly smart.... but she wasn't a failure.

I, on the other hand, have two degrees, one an honours. I have a certificate that declares my IQ is 147. I am not a drop-out.... nor am I rich! But I pray to God in Heaven that I could be remembered in this world more like a Rosa Parks than a Larry Ellison!

[Dabhand16]

Well said, Rob. I think that anyone who has made a difference (for the good), irrespective of whether they are famous or anonymous are successful.

I have been a civil servant for close on 35 years in a very specialised department. I have had the privilege of working with people who are dedicated, single-minded, stubborn, skilled and have collectively made an absolutely enormous difference to society, yet will never have their efforts recognised other than by their peers. That does not bother them in the slightest. It is more a vocation than a job. I am proud to have been able to do my bit with them.

Having said that, I could not be a teacher, or a nurse. No way. i just have not got it in me. Society could not do without these unsung heros. I take my hat off to you all.

The measurement of success in purely monetary terms is the most shallow measure.

[Foxesbrew]

Considsr this ,the people who maintain our sewers ,empty our bins ,put out our fires or do all sorts of comparatively low paid but essential work,do we label them as failures? Without theese people succeeding in thier tasks our society would surely fail .

[Dave]

Excellently put Rob & a very good read......wish I could communicate like your goodself

[Angela]

Well said Rob. It is typical of our culture today that we associate "success" with being rich, the two don't necessarily go together.

[VinnyP]

Just an aside IF Bill Gates did use this in a speech then like so much of his software it bares an uncanny resemblance to someone elses ...

Text By Charles J. Sykes

Printed in San Diego Union Tribune
September 19, 1996

Unfortunately, there are some things that children should be learning in
school, but don't. Not all of them have to do with academics. As a modest
back-to-school offering, here are some basic rules that may not have found
their way into the standard curriculum.

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the
phrase, "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who
said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation
ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule
No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much
as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you
feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated
self-esteem meets reality, kids complain it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school.
And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even
have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He
doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's
not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grand-parents
had a different word of burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They
weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been
embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are
responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the
boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you
turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a
baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are
now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and
listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before
you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents'
generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life
hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get
the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class
valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as
important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance
to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4)

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers
off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight
hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on.
While we're at it, very few jobs are interesting in fostering your
self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to
self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your
problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials.
In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs.
Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all
could.

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic.
Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his
mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing
yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the
impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is
romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature
lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a
bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it
was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now.

[dod]

Originally Posted by Rob Barron

The Ellison audience will think he got it right and will fail to see that actually he was wrong. Why? He is supremely rich and yet he dropped out. He must be right.... right?

No, wrong, very, very wrong! ....snip...... you can measure 'success' in a thousand different ways.

Surely his measure of success is just as valid then, don't see how it makes him wrong, just different.

[Rob Barron]

Originally Posted by dod

Surely his measure of success is just as valid then, don't see how it makes him wrong, just different.

Fair point Dod but I still think he was wrong and not just different because he started out from the standpoint that everyone in front of him, a thousand graduates, were all losers because they had not dropped out and gone on to make millions. Those were the words he used right at the start. How judgemental of others was that?

He was also wrong because for everyone that has dropped out and made millions, there are a million who have dropped out and made nothing!

Cheers,
Rob