性別與全球健康和機遇之間的復雜關系也是梅琳達的新書《提升時刻》的主題，該書于4月首次出版，其中記述了不少生動活潑的故事。

但該書真正的主題似乎是樂觀主義，也是蓋茨做所有事的態度。比爾和梅琳達認為，有無限機會解決拖累人類社會發展的問題，從而“迎來人類的提升時刻，”梅琳達在書中寫道。

“最令人印象深刻的是，比爾和梅琳達都抱有極具感染性的樂觀情緒，認為種種問題都可以解決，”渣打銀行前首席執行官彼得·桑茲表示，目前他擔任全球基金執行董事。“人類在創新、思考和尋找做事方法上能力巨大。如果跟蓋茨夫婦相處就會發現，他們總在說，‘下一步要做什么？’我認為這種轉變擁有驚人的催化作用，也很鼓舞人心。”

蓋茨夫婦都承認積極看待事物的態度對完成使命的重要性，幾乎所有的公開演講時都會提到。“樂觀是我們工作的基礎，”3月梅琳達在西雅圖接受采訪時告訴我。“我們一定要認清世界上事情的真實情況，認真了解并認真傾聽。但也要相信世界會越來越好。我們就相信世界會變得更好，因為一定會變得更好。”

“比爾和梅琳達都抱有極具感染性的樂觀情緒，認為種種問題都可以解決。”——全球基金彼得·桑茲

梅琳達說，與2000年出生的孩子相比，今天出生的孩子5歲前夭折的可能性已降到一半。世界上最窮的地方也不再像以前一樣貧窮。“我們一定要堅持進步的信念，幫助其他人堅持信念，這樣就會有更多人跟我們一起上路。你看，我們的旅程并不孤獨。舉個例子，如果想制造新疫苗或發明新技術造福人類，就需要很多很多合作伙伴。”

比爾插嘴說：“我想說，現在樂觀主義尤為重要，因為當前有種保守傾向（從政治上來說），各種機構的信任度下降了很多。

“我們做的很多事情都需要很長時間，”他說。“我們研究艾滋病毒疫苗已經超過15年，想成功估計還得10年，所以一共得25年。如果一切順利，消滅瘧疾也還需要20年。消滅脊髓灰質炎1988年開始，但2000年我們才加入。這是個漫長的旅程。”他說，想讓人們承諾很有挑戰，尤其是某些項目的影響距離很多捐助者的日常生活很遙遠時，比如清除瘧疾的項目。“樂觀，”他說，“是吸引人們參與的關鍵因素。”

“是的，我們必須相信未來的可能性，”梅琳達補充道。“這并不是一種幼稚的樂觀主義，而是現實的樂觀主義。我們在努力設想未來，正如領導者為公司或其使命設置未來愿景一樣。對我們來說，使命就是讓所有生命具有同等的價值。”

The complex interplay between gender and global health and opportunity is also the subject of Melinda’s book, The Moment of Lift, which debuted in April. The stories within are often raw and moving.

But the real theme of the book—as it is with all things Gates, it seems—is optimism: what Bill and Melinda see as the endless opportunities to fix what’s dragging us down and to “summon the moment of lift for human beings,” as Melinda writes in her book.

“The enormously impressive thing is that Bill and Melinda both bring a kind of infectious optimism that these are problems that can be solved,” says Peter Sands, the former CEO of Standard Chartered who is now executive director of The Global Fund. “Humanity has enormous capacity to innovate and think through and find ways of doing things. And when you spend any time with them, they’re constantly in the mode of saying, ‘What do we do next?’ And I think that’s a fantastically catalytic and inspiring turn to have.”

Both Gateses acknowledge how central this bright-side view is to the mission—and seem to wield it in nearly every public speech and presentation. “Optimism is fundamental to our work,” Melinda tells me in our March interview in Seattle. “We have to be able to see the reality of what’s going on in the world, and to know that and to listen to that. But we have to believe in the world getting better. And we do believe in the world getting better because it is getting better.”

“Bill and Melinda both bring a kind of infectious optimism that these are problems that can be solved.” – Peter Sands, The Global Fund

A child born today is half as likely to die before the age of 5, compared to a child born in the year 2000, she says. The poorest parts of the world are less poor than they were. “And we have to hold that belief in progress and help others hold that belief so they’ll come along on the journey with us. Because look, the journey we’re on is not a solo journey. Many, many, many partners need to be at the table to create, for instance, a new vaccine or a new technology that’ll benefit everybody.”

Bill chimes in, “I’d say that kind of optimism is particularly important now where there’s a kind of turning inward [politically speaking], and the trust in various institutions is down a lot.

“A lot of the things we do take a long time,” he says. “I mean, we’ve been working on an HIV vaccine for over 15 years, and it’ll probably be 10 more years before we get there—so 25 years in total. Malaria eradication, if things go well, is 20 years away. The polio effort started in 1988; we didn’t get engaged until 2000. You know, it’s a long journey.” That’s challenging, he says, when it comes to getting people to commit—especially when the initial impact of the effort, as in malaria reduction, is far away from many of the donors’ front yards. “Optimism,” he says, “is a key part of it to engage people.”

“Yes, we have to believe in what’s possible,” adds Melinda. “It’s not at all a naive optimism. It’s a realistic optimism. We’re trying to envision the future—as leaders envision the future of where their company or their mission will go. And for us it’s a mission that all lives have equal value.”