Quotes by Abdul Kalam

“My view is that at a younger age your optimism is more and you have more imagination etc. You have less bias.”

“Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.”

“Tell me, why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognise our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?”

“I was willing to accept what I couldn't change.”

“My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.”

“In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.”

“You have to dream before your dreams can come true.”

“Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.”

“God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.”

“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.”

“Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength.”

“As a child of God, I am greater than anything that can happen to me.”

“Be more dedicated to making solid achievements than in running after swift but synthetic happiness.”

“One lesson that every nation can learn from China is to focus more on creating village-level enterprises, quality health services and educational facilities.”

“We have not invaded anyone. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.”

“Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model.”

“No religion has mandated killing others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion.”

“If we are not free, no one will respect us.”

“Do we not realize that self respect comes with self reliance?”

“English is necessary as at present original works of science are in English. I believe that in two decades times original works of science will start coming out in our languages. Then we can move over like the Japanese.”

“Science is global. Einstein's equation, E=mc2, has to reach everywhere. Science is a beautiful gift to humanity, we should not distort it. Science does not differentiate between multiple races.”

“Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.”

“Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.”

“Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.”

“Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? Is it a legacy of our colonial years? We want foreign television sets. We want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported?”

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