--- description: Bill Gates took to Twitter to remind the world that there really was some positivity in 2017, despite it being "a really tough year." title: Bill Gates Posts Inspiring Stories of 2017 on Twitter image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd49730590d70ae8/6988f5c64ee26279373103d8/bill-gates-inspiring-stories-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bill Gates Shares His Favorite Inspirational Stories of 2017 by [Lena Grossman](/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 19, 2017 7:26 PM CUT  Bill Gates arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron as he receives One Planet Summit's international philanthropists at Elysee Palace on December 12, 2017 in Paris, France. Bill Gates arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron as he receives One Planet Summit's international philanthropists at Elysee Palace on December 12, 2017 in Paris, France.Aurelien Meunier—Getty Images by [Lena Grossman](/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 19, 2017 7:26 PM CUT [Bill Gates took to Twitter](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131653026615296 "undefined") to remind the world that there really was some [positivity in 2017,](http://time.com/5050708/strangers-kindness-internet-reddit-terry-crews-tonka/ "undefined") despite it being “a really tough year.” In a string of tweets, [Gates](http://time.com/5021339/bill-gates-alzheimers-research-dementia/ "undefined") posted a number of different stories and articles that made him “feel better about 2017 and more optimistic about the new year.” Gates’ first story was [Edwardo Sanchez](https://twitter.com/eddy%5F%5F%5Fsanchez/status/876943898786050048 "undefined"), who was the first person in his family to graduate from college on May 18, 2017\. “Congratulations, Edwardo!” Gates wrote. Three articles that Gates tweeted were related to health awareness. The first one focused on the movie [_Toilet, A Love Story_](https://twitter.com/etribune/status/884817897117237249 "undefined") which Gates described as a Bollywood love story that “educated audiences about India’s sanitation challenge.” Other articles included the Maldives and Bhutan eliminating the Measles and[ a study](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/well/mind/why-doing-good-is-good-for-the-do-gooder.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") in the New York _Times_ that doing good deeds has a positive impact on both the givers and receivers. Gates, an [avid reader](http://time.com/5046105/5-amazing-books-i-read-in-2017/ "undefined") himself, tweeted about a “sport” called extreme reading, which encourages people to read more. Some instances of this activity show people [reading while skydiving ](https://twitter.com/MCMPrepLibrary/status/938343388423712768 "undefined")and even [reading underwater.](https://twitter.com/sim2832/status/943132758708244480 "undefined") Gates himself participated in the challenge, which has become its own [Twitter hashtag](https://twitter.com/hashtag/extremereading?src=hash "undefined"). See his full thread of tweets below. > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131653026615296) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131654222094336) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131655702691840) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131660517744640) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131661927047170) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131663889924096) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131669048967168) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131670202298368) > [](https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/943131672014229509) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5072011/bill-gates-best-stories-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5072011/bill-gates-best-stories-2017/"},"headline":"Bill Gates Shares His Favorite Inspirational Stories of 2017","datePublished":"2017-12-19T19:26:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:23.525Z","description":"Bill Gates took to Twitter to remind the world that there really was some positivity in 2017, despite it being \"a really tough year.\"","url":"https://time.com/5072011/bill-gates-best-stories-2017/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Social Media"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd49730590d70ae8/6988f5c64ee26279373103d8/bill-gates-inspiring-stories-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lena Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd49730590d70ae8/6988f5c64ee26279373103d8/bill-gates-inspiring-stories-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"French President Emmanuel Macron Receives One Planet Summit's International Philanthropists At Elysee Palace In Paris","caption":"French President Emmanuel Macron Receives One Planet Summit's International Philanthropists At Elysee Palace In Paris","creditText":"Aurelien Meunier—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5072011/bill-gates-best-stories-2017/","name":"Bill Gates Shares His Favorite Inspirational Stories of 2017"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Bill Gates’ 5 Favorite Books of 2017","description":"This year’s list includes novels that dig into history, mental illness, and poverty.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/W5VLZRaW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-04T17:58:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/W5VLZRaW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5072011/bill-gates-best-stories-2017/","duration":"PT1M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5072011/bill-gates-best-stories-2017/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```