在比爾-蓋茨寫給高中畢業生和大學畢業生的書裏，有一個單子上麵列有11項學生沒能在學校裏學到的事情。比爾-蓋茨在書中談到讓你感覺良好的政治上正確的教導培養出一整代不知現實為何物的年輕人，這種教育隻能導致他們成為現實世界中的失敗者。
1. Life is not fair, get used to it.
生活是不公平的；要去適應它。
2. The world wont care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
這世界並不會在意你的自尊。這世界指望你在自我感覺良好之前先要有所成就。
3. You will not make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You wont be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
高中剛畢業你不會一年掙4萬美元。你不會成為一個公司的副總裁，並擁有一部裝有電話的汽車，直到你將此職位和汽車電話都掙到手。
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesnt have tenure.
如果你認為你的老師嚴厲，等你有了老板再這樣想。老板可是沒有任期限製的。
5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
烙牛肉餅並不有損你的尊嚴。你的祖父母對烙牛肉餅可有不同的定義；他們稱它為機遇。
6. If you mess up, its not your parents fault, so dont whine about our mistakes, learn from them.
如果你陷入困境，那不是你父母的過錯，所以不要尖聲抱怨我們的錯誤，要從中吸取教訓。
7. Before you were born, your parents werent 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 are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
在你出生之前，你的父母並非像他們現在這樣乏味。他們變成今天這個樣子是因為這些年來他們一直在為你付賬單，給你洗衣服，聽你大談你是如何的酷。所以，如果你想消滅你父母那一輩中的寄生蟲來拯救雨林的話，還是先去清除你房間衣櫃裏的蟲子吧。
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; theyll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn tbear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
你的學校也許已經不再分優等生和劣等生，但生活卻仍在作出類似區分。在某些學校已經廢除不及格分；隻要你想找到正確答案，學校就會給你無數的機會。這和現實生活中的任何事情沒有一點相似之處。
9.Life is not divided into semesters. You dont get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
生活不分學期。你並沒有暑假可以休息，也沒有幾位雇主樂於幫你發現自我。自己找時間做吧。
10. Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
電視並不是真實的生活。在現實生活中，人們實際上得離開咖啡屋去幹自己的工作。
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are youll end up working for one.
善待乏味的人。有可能到頭來你會為一個乏味的人工作。
