A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people. Dream, dream, dream!

I'm not an expert on the arms race.

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

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?

The world has today 546 nuclear plants generating electricity. Their experience is being continuously researched, and feedback should be provided to all. Nuclear scientists have to interact with the people of the nation, and academic institutions continuously update nuclear power generation technology and safety.

India has to be transformed into a developed nation, a prosperous nation and a healthy nation, with a value system.

When I took over as president, I studied the Constitution, and the more I studied it, the more I realised that it does not prevent the president of India from giving the nation a vision. So when I went and presented this vision in Parliament and in legislative assemblies; everyone welcomed it, irrespective of party affiliations.

A teacher should have a creative mind.

Writing is my love. If you love something, you find a lot of time. I write for two hours a day, usually starting at midnight; at times, I start at 11.

God is everywhere.

All wars signify the failure of conflict resolution mechanisms, and they need post-war rebuilding of faith, trust and confidence.

My hair grows and grows; you cannot stop it - that fellow grows, it grows wild.

It means, people who are in high and responsible positions, if they go against righteousness, righteousness itself will get transformed into a destroyer.

Widespread use of antibiotics promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. Smart use of antibiotics is the key to controlling its spread.

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

For me, there is no such thing as a negative experience.

India's trade deficit is because of excess of import over exports.

Small aim is a crime.

India should walk on her own shadow - we must have our own development model.

While children are struggling to be unique, the world around them is trying all means to make them look like everybody else.

The Bay of Bengal is hit frequently by cyclones. The months of November and May, in particular, are dangerous in this regard.

For 2,500 years, India has never invaded anybody.

I have met 18 million youth, and each wants to be unique.

For me, there are two types of people: the young and the experienced.

The wealth of information now available at the click of a finger amazes me.

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.

How accurately can the law fix the crime? There has to be a mechanism for very fast action. The law is like this: catch them and punish them.

An economically peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka is the dream of youth of the nation. My message for the youth is to collectively work for an inclusively developed Sri Lanka.

One of the more difficult tasks for me as president was to decide on the issue of confirming capital punishment awarded by courts... to my surprise... almost all cases which were pending had a social and economic bias.

Smart habitation is an integrated area of villages and a city working in harmony and where the rural and urban divide has reduced to thin line.

Today, India is a nuclear weapons state.

Nations consist of people. And with their effort, a nation can accomplish all it could ever want.

I love the sea.

Every nation has to follow a certain policy: Commercial, trade, various other types of policies.

Today, India consumes about 682 watts per capita, far lesser than developed nations. As India develops, it will definitely require a lot more energy.

The President's post should not be politicised. Once a president is elected, he is above politics.

Wherever I go, as long as I get a hot vegetable dish, I am okay. If I am in Gujarat, I have Gujarati food. If it's Shillong, it's northeastern.

We should remember that there are nations which meet more than 30 to 60% of their power requirements through the nuclear power system.

All the scientists and technologists should work in appropriate region, specifically the rural technologies, to transform Indian rural sector.

When grand plans for scientific and defence technologies are made, do the people in power think about the sacrifices the people in the laboratories and fields have to make?

There is not enough funding for basic sciences in India. We have to invest in a big way, and I am pushing that idea.

Measuring nuclear yield depends on multiple parameters - the location and number of instruments, the geology of the area, the location of the seismic station in relation to the test site.

New markets could be created by rural potentials, which could lead to rise in the employment.

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.

There are a number of women who have brought about immense change in society.

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.

We must get rid of fossil fuels by developing injection systems for automobiles, which can run on bio-fuel.

Developing nations want to become developed nations.

Over the years, I had nurtured the hope to be able to fly; to handle a machine as it rose higher and higher in the stratosphere was my dearest dream.

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