It would make sense that one of the most successful and most philanthropic people of our time, Bill Gates, has been an avid reader all his life.

    As a kid, he devoured books, so much so that he sometimes read at the dinner table--not a habit his parents wanted to encourage.

    He often won his school's awards for "most books read over the summer."  You can picture it, right?  A young Bill Gates curled up with a book on the sofa, on the porch, on his bed—drinking it all in and remembering every word he read.  And then moving on to the next book.  (With summer just around the bend, parents, take heed...)

    If you want to know more about where Bill Gates came from, the values that molded him, and the common-sense wisdom and strong principles he grew up with, check out his father's inspiring new book, Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on The Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates, Sr., with Mary Ann Mackin (Broadway Books, $22).

    Our current issue of Reader's Digest features a compelling short excerpt from the book, on page 23 of our June 2009 magazine.

    An attorney who currently serves as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Sr., 83, has a clear, direct, and persuasive voice that quickly draws the reader in. (Bill Gates, the son, wrote the book's short and punchy foreword, which is a personal message to his father.)

    A few standout bits of Gates Senior's wisdom:

    1. There can be more than one valid viewpoint on any subject—and likely more than two.

    2. We cannot succeed without the contributions of others.

    3. No matter how old we get, we never have to stop growing.

    4. Optimism triumphs over pessimism.

    5. Each of us has an obligation to speak out for what we believe in—and to make life on this planet a little better.