154 APJ Abdul Kalam Quotes on Dreams, Life and Success

These are Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's own words for students, teachers, speech makers and anyone who wants a line for a status on 15 October or 27 July.

Every quote is checked word for word against his books, mainly Wings of Fire (1999) and Ignited Minds (2002), and the source is named next to it. Tap any line to copy it.

Abdul Kalam Quotes on Dreams

For students and speakers who want his best-known message: dream first, then act.

• Dream, dream, dream. Dream transforms into thoughts. Thoughts result in actions.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Friends, if there are no dreams, there are no revolutionary thoughts; if there are no thoughts, no actions will emanate.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Success always follows dreams attempted though there may be some setbacks and delays.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• There is no greater power in heaven or on earth than the commitment to a dream.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• I believe that when we believe in our goals, that what we dream of can become reality, results will begin to follow.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glow of its goodness.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Today, I can affirm that the kingdom of God is within you in the form of this power, to help achieve your goals and realise your dreams.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Within the mind are all the resources required for successful living.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Share my dream of a developed India and see it made real in your own and others' lives.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes for Students

For students before exams, a new term or a big decision. He spoke to millions of them.

• I personally feel the young have the most powerful minds.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Students should get ready to transform India into a developed nation. Ignite your minds and think big.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Be more dedicated to making solid achievements than in running after swift but synthetic happiness.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Knowledge is a tangible asset, quite often the most important tool in your work. The more up-to-date the knowledge you possess, the freer you are.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• The first requirement is to work as hard as you can at something that presents a challenge and is approved by your heart.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Science is a passion, a never-ending voyage into promises and possibilities.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I have always considered the price of perfection prohibitive and allowed mistakes as a part of the learning process.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Your willingness to use your own inner resources to invest in your life, especially your imagination, will bring you success.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• When you address a task from your own uniquely individual standpoint, you become a whole person.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Working on this project I learned that once your mind stretches to a new level it never goes back to its original dimension.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I reminded myself that the best way to win was to not need to win. The best performances are accomplished when you are relaxed and free of doubt.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Thinking should become your capital asset, whatever ups and downs you may come across in your life.Enlightened MindsCopyShare
• Unless our students and young believe that they are worthy of being citizens of a developed India, how will they ever be responsible and enlightened citizens?Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Evaluating one's own progress in life is not an easy task. Here the student has to set his own questions, seek his own answers and evaluate them to his own satisfaction.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Young Indians with constructive ideas should not have to see them wither in the long wait for approval.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• I am writing this book to make my young readers hear a voice that says, 'Start moving.'Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes on Success and Failure

For anyone who just failed at something, or is about to try something hard.

• To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Climbing to the top demands strength, whether to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Happiness, satisfaction, and success in life depend on making the right choices, the winning choices.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• This is my belief: that through difficulties and problems God gives us the opportunity to grow. So when your hopes and dreams and goals are dashed, search among the wreckage, you may find a golden opportunity hidden in the ruins.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Actually, problems can be the cutting edge that actually distinguish between success and failure. They draw out innate courage and wisdom.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Failures contain within themselves the seeds of further learning which can lead to better technology, and eventually, to a high level of success.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• The key to my motivation has always been to look at how far I had still to go rather than how far I had come.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I learnt from failures and hardened myself with courage to face them.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• I have faced failures and disappointments without feeling defeated.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• There are success stories among failures. There is hope among chaos, promise among problems.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• The mindset must change, showing willingness to take pragmatic risks. Success will follow.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Total commitment is the common denominator among all successful men and women.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Either you will succeed or fail; that risk will always be there. This should not deter you. When you fail, you still have the experience gained to draw upon in the future.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Breathe in thoughts of success and you will be a success.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• The excitement of planning ways to succeed and the vision of future success provide an irresistible form of motivation which, I have found, always makes things happen.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare

For more lines like these from other thinkers, see our success quotes.

Abdul Kalam Quotes on Life

For quiet moments, journal pages and anyone taking stock of where life is going.

• After all, what is life but a mixture of unsolved problems, ambiguous victories, and amorphous defeats? The trouble is that we often merely analyse life instead of dealing with it.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• To live only for some unknown future is superficial. It is like climbing a mountain to reach the peak without experiencing its sides.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• It has been my personal experience that the true flavour, the real fun, the continuous excitement of work lie in the process of doing it rather than in having it over and done with.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Are you aware of your inner signals? Do you trust them? Have you taken control over your life into your own hands?Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Life is a difficult game. You can win only by retaining your birthright to be a person.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• No one, however poor, underprivileged or small, need feel disheartened about life.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I never used any outside influence to advance my career. All I had was the inner urge to seek more within myself.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Freedom with responsibility is the only sound basis for personal happiness.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Taking responsibility also means a willingness to exercise our abilities to the fullest.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• It is for you to put yourself in tune with the music of the universe.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• There are forces in life working for you and against you. One must distinguish the beneficial forces from the malevolent ones and choose correctly between them.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• In my own way, I have tried to follow my beliefs, to do what I loved doing.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• We must learn from our mistakes to achieve a better standard of life.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes on Teachers and Education

For Teachers' Day cards, school assemblies and parents. Need wishes too? Try our Teachers' Day wishes.

• Hence, parents and teachers should allow their children to dream.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• The teacher, the child's window to learning and knowledge, has to play the role model in generating creativity in the child.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• I would even go to the extent of saying that if parents and teachers show the required dedication to shape the lives of the young, India would get a new life.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Education and the teacher-student relationship have to be seen not in business terms but with the nation's growth in mind.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• A proper education would help nurture a sense of dignity and self-respect among our youth.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Mother, father and elementary schoolteachers play a very important part as role models.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• We've been saying from the very beginning that values should be taught by parents at home, teachers at school, and the guru in later life.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Iyadurai Solomon was a great teacher because he instilled in all the children a sense of their own worth.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• They are the best examples of small-town Indian teachers committed to nurturing talent.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• 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.Security and Diplomacy, 2004CopyShare
• I tell them that true quality does not come from a great building or great facilities or great advertisements. It happens when education is imparted with love by great teachers.My Journey, 2014CopyShare
• It is very important for every parent to be willing to make the effort to guide children to be good human beings, enlightened and hard-working.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Knowledge has always been the prime mover of prosperity and power.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes on Leadership

For team leads, captains and managers. Most of these come from his years running India's rocket and missile teams.

• Within my own small group of people I found leaders, and learned that leaders exist at every level.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• How good is a leader? No better than his people and their commitment and participation in the project as full partners!Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• The line between firmness and harshness, between strong leadership and bullying, between discipline and vindictiveness is very fine, but it has to be drawn.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Anyone who has taken up the responsibility to lead a team can be successful only if he is sufficiently independent, powerful and influential in his own right to become a person to reckon with.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• A leader can only be free to lead his team if he keeps abreast of all that is happening around him.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• To be a successful team leader, one has to stay back after the din and clutter of a working day to emerge better-equipped and ready to face a new day.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• To me, the level of responsibility is measured by one's ability to confront the decision-making process without any delay or distraction.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Leaders must ensure that the younger generation is better than them and not subject them to circumstances that will stunt their growth.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Wherever the project leader tries to make himself out to be bigger than the project, the enterprise suffers.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• One test of leadership is also how well successors are able to carry forward a programme.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• We need to realize that missions are always bigger than organizations, just as organizations are always bigger than the individuals who run them.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes on India and Youth

For Independence Day, Republic Day and youth events. Pair them with our Independence Day wishes.

• As a young citizen of India, armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation, I realize, small aim is a crime.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning to achieve the vision: Developed India.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people. Dream, dream, dream!Eternal Quest, 2002CopyShare
• I think that when a nation doesn't have a vision, small minds take over its affairs.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Nation's wealth is the young generation of the country.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• The young especially have to be guided properly, so that their lives find a proper direction and their creativity is allowed to flower.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• A developed India will supplant a spirit of defeat with the spirit of victory.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• I dream of an India governed by noble leaders.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• We are links of a great past to a grand future.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• No ideology is above the security and prosperity of our country. No agenda is more important than harmony among the people.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Embed the thought 'Nation is bigger than the Individual' in the minds of the leaders and people.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Let my country prosper in peace. Let my people live in harmony. Let me go to dust as a proud citizen of India, to rise again and rejoice in its glory.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Two centuries of subjugation, oppression and denial have failed to kill the creativity and capability of the Indian people.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• This great country will make enormous strides in all fields if we think like a united nation of 900 million people.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• If we are not free, no one will respect us.Quoted in Bhushan and Katyal, 2002CopyShare
• Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.Philosophy and Social Action, 2003CopyShare
• We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation a prosperous and safe India, resulting out of economic prosperity coupled with civilizational heritage.Lok Sabha Debates, 2003CopyShare
• No religion has mandated killing others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion.Philosophy and Social Action, 2003CopyShare
• Ignited minds are the most powerful resource on earth, and the one billion minds of our nation are indeed a great power waiting to be tapped.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• We should all, particularly the young generation, launch a movement for a transparent India, just as our fathers fought for our freedom.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• The vision generates the best in every field.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• What we need today is a vision for the nation which can bring unity.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes on Hard Work and Commitment

For anyone who needs a push to start, or to keep going when the work gets boring.

• Be active! Take on responsibility! Work for the things you believe in. If you do not, you are surrendering your fate to others.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• All of us carry some sort of a super-intelligence within us. Let it be stimulated to enable us to examine our deepest thoughts, desires, and beliefs.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Challenges throw up opportunities. Once one selects a task, one should get immersed in it.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• The sovereign way to personal freedom is to help determine the forces that determine you.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• The profiles of these courageous people will never be written about in any history book, but it is such silent people on whose hard work generations thrive and nations progress.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• As the process of confronting and solving problems often requires hard work and is painful, we have endless procrastination.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I will work and sweat for a great vision, the vision of transforming India into a developed nation powered by economic strength with value system.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• My strength has been my young teams who never let me down.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes on Science, Faith and Spirituality

For science fairs, prayer meetings and anyone who thinks science and faith cannot sit together. He thought they could.

• I wonder why some people tend to see science as something which takes man away from God. As I look at it, the path of science can always wind through the heart.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• For me, science has always been the path to spiritual enrichment and self-realisation.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• One of the important functions of prayer, I believe, is to act as a stimulus to creative ideas.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I have always been a religious person in the sense that I maintain a working partnership with God.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• A person with belief never grovels before anyone, whining and whimpering that it's all too much, that he lacks support, that he is being treated unfairly.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Once we have trust in the wisdom that created us, we can develop a faith that sustains us through our lives.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Spirituality must be integrated with education.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

Abdul Kalam Quotes in Hindi (Translations)

For WhatsApp groups and Hindi-medium schools. These are our own Hindi translations of his English lines above, not words he wrote in Hindi. More Hindi lines: motivational quotes in Hindi.

• सपने देखो, सपने देखो, सपने देखो। सपने विचारों में बदलते हैं और विचार कर्म में।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• हम सब अपने भीतर एक दिव्य अग्नि लेकर जन्म लेते हैं। हमारी कोशिश होनी चाहिए कि इस अग्नि को पंख दें और दुनिया को इसकी अच्छाई की रोशनी से भर दें।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• सपने के प्रति प्रतिबद्धता से बड़ी कोई शक्ति न स्वर्ग में है, न धरती पर।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• अपने मिशन में सफल होने के लिए आपको अपने लक्ष्य के प्रति एकाग्र समर्पण रखना होगा।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• शिखर तक पहुँचने के लिए ताकत चाहिए, चाहे वह माउंट एवरेस्ट का शिखर हो या आपके करियर का।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• मैंने असफलताओं से सीखा और उनका सामना करने के लिए खुद को साहस से मज़बूत बनाया।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• जब आपकी उम्मीदें, सपने और लक्ष्य टूट जाएँ, तो मलबे में खोजिए। हो सकता है खंडहरों में कोई सुनहरा अवसर छिपा मिले।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• मेरी प्रेरणा की कुंजी हमेशा यह देखना रही है कि मुझे अभी कितना आगे जाना है, न कि मैं कितना आ चुका हूँ।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• मुझे लगता है कि युवाओं के पास सबसे शक्तिशाली मन होता है।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• किसी राष्ट्र की असली दौलत उसकी युवा पीढ़ी है।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• भारत के एक युवा नागरिक के रूप में, तकनीक, ज्ञान और देश के प्रति प्रेम से लैस होकर, मैं समझता हूँ कि छोटा लक्ष्य रखना अपराध है।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• ज्ञान को किसी से छीना नहीं जा सकता, सिवाय इसके कि वह पुराना पड़ जाए।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• पहाड़ की ढलानें जीवन को संभालती हैं, चोटी नहीं।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• पूर्ण समर्पण ही सभी सफल पुरुषों और महिलाओं में एक जैसी बात है।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• मनुष्य को अपनी कठिनाइयों की ज़रूरत होती है, क्योंकि सफलता का आनंद लेने के लिए वे ज़रूरी हैं।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• सक्रिय बनो! ज़िम्मेदारी लो! उन चीज़ों के लिए काम करो जिनमें तुम विश्वास करते हो।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• विज्ञान एक जुनून है, वादों और संभावनाओं की कभी न खत्म होने वाली यात्रा।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• समस्याएँ जीवन का हिस्सा हैं। कष्ट ही सफलता का सार है।Wings of Fire, translatedCopyShare
• सफलता के विचारों में साँस लो और तुम सफल हो जाओगे।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• चुनौतियाँ अपने साथ अवसर लाती हैं।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• जब आप असफल होते हैं, तब भी आपके पास वह अनुभव रहता है जो भविष्य में काम आएगा।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• ज्ञान हमेशा से समृद्धि और शक्ति का मुख्य आधार रहा है।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare
• प्रज्वलित मन धरती का सबसे शक्तिशाली संसाधन हैं।Ignited Minds, translatedCopyShare

Short Abdul Kalam Quotes for Status

For WhatsApp and Instagram status on his birthday or death anniversary. Short, real and sourced.

• Vision ignites the minds.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Our freedom did not come as a gift.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• I always tell the young to dream.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Science seeks truth that enriches human life.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• The sides of the mountain sustain life, not the peak.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Knowledge cannot be taken away from anyone except by obsolescence.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• As a child of God, I am greater than anything that can happen to me.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• I prefer a dash of daring and persistence to perfection.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Problems are a part of life. Suffering is the essence of success.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Small aim is a crime.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Work for the things you believe in.Wings of Fire, 1999CopyShare
• Leadership must lead us to prosperity.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare
• Transparency is a cornerstone of development.Ignited Minds, 2002CopyShare

About Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

A few facts to add to a speech, a card or a school project.

• Full name: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam.
• Born: 15 October 1931, in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
• Died: 27 July 2015, in Shillong, while giving a lecture at IIM Shillong.
• Missile Man of India: he led the SLV-3 rocket project at ISRO, which put the Rohini satellite into orbit in 1980, and then the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme that built Agni and Prithvi.
• 11th President of India: from 2002 to 2007. Many called him the People's President.
• Awards: Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the Bharat Ratna (1997).
• Books: Wings of Fire (1999, with Arun Tiwari), Ignited Minds (2002), India 2020 (1998, with Y.S. Rajan) and many more.
• World Students' Day: his birthday, 15 October, is marked as World Students' Day in India in his honour. It is not an official UN day.

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Read also164 Exam Motivational Quotes in Hindi for Students (परीक्षा मोटिवेशन)