2000 FACTS

Bill Gates (1955), American businessman and philanthropist, he is the founder of the technology firm Microsoft and he also founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, committed to promoting health and education in the neediest regions of the world, this is why he and his spouse won the Príncipe de Asturias  Award for their labor in international cooperation, in 2006. According to Forbes magazine, he is right now (November 2019) the second wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $96.5 billion, behind Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com Inc. William Henry Gates III (Bill Gates)

Could it be that by using a machine, a mechanical device created by humans, we were able to create art? In Aristotle's age, the word techné  referred to mastery, art, ability, creativity; in other words, to the group of necessary skills to carry out activities such as navigation, war or writing a poem. The etymology of the word ars (art) drives us to the Greek word techné (technique), which, as one can observe, provides a vague meaning. Over the centuries, the use of the term "art" was limited to those activities aimed to provide an aesthetic look and to those acts through which the human being was seeking emotions, expressing fears, anguish, and spiritual aspirations. Illustration of the camera obscura  or pinhole camera

Michael Porter (1947) is a professor at Harvard Business School, specialized in topics about business strategy, economic development of nations and regions, and about the implementation of business competitiveness in the resolution of social, environmental and health issues. He is the chairman of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness (in the same school) and also manages, once again at Harvard University, the program directed to new deputy counselors and presidents of large corporations. He has been awarded on different occasions due to his trajectory and he is the author of numerous books, among which stand out "Competitive Advantage" and "Competitive Strategy". Professor Michael Porter

Matter doesn't enjoy great prestige in our scale of values. We are so persuaded by platonic reminiscences and we consider the matter as the last tier of reality, an abstract to look at with contempt. If we change the word into an adjective, it gets even worse. To call someone a "materialist" is an insult in almost the entire world. The adjective "materialist" always involves the reproach of the selfishness, of the lack of altruism, of the kingdom of the interest above any other consideration. All of this, despite always carrying with us a precious load of matter that we call "body". Although it is true that in this case, we talk about living matter. There is even an inferior tier, the inert matter, for example, the minerals, those bodies that have never been alive. Tabela VIII from De Sphaera estense - Cristoforo de Predis (1460 circa)

John C. Maxwell (1947) is a public speaker, educator, and author of several books about leadership and personal development. He has written, in fact, more than 50 books, having sold millions of copies all over the world, some of them have even appeared in the bestseller lists of the New York Times. Among others, stands out: "The Power of Influence", "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership", "Developing the Leader within You" and "25 Ways to Win with People". John C. Maxwell - Leadership Mentor

The most obvious dimension of the objects that surround us is the length. To measure it, taking a pattern length as a unit is enough. The election is arbitrary and every extension could be used. For example, the foot size. If we walk from one edge of a room to the other, making sure that the heel of the right foot always touches the end of the left one and always walking on a straight line, we should know how many feet are from one wall to the other. But if a friend does the same thing, we shall obviously find some differences: he likely has larger or smaller feet than yours and, therefore, the result of the measurement won't be the same. The room would have more or less feet of theirs than ours. Imagine that this example is repeated by many different people, so each measurement would be different. So, due to these discrepancies, it is required to have a "foot" of reference, a patterned foot. "Use of the New Measures"

Brian Tracy (1944) is a public speaker, coach, and writer on topics related to personal development. He has worked with more than a thousand companies from different economic sectors and he has carried out hundreds of seminars. He is the author of multiple books, like "Eat That Frog!", "Kiss That Frog!", "Psychology of Selling" and "No excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline". Some of his most popular quotes, which we will proceed to analyze are the following: Brian Tracy, Motivational Speaker