My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions

by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

one must keep dreaming at various phases of life, and then work hard to realize those dreams.

When troubles come, try to understand the relevance of your sufferings. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection.'

'There is a divine power that looks over us, that gently lifts us from our sadness and failures and miseries. If we open our minds and let it, it will guide us to our true place.

that it must always be our inner convictions and strength of beliefs that dictate our actions.

(Think of rising higher. Let it be your only thought. Even if your object be not attained, the thought itself will have raised you.)

Joy is fleeting, whereas true happiness and calm can come to us only after intense pain, when we have confronted ourselves in the mirror of our souls and understood the self.

I again found now that the mind is unbelievably elastic. It can expand as much as you let it, and once it opens up, there are no barriers—the belief in yourself that comes as a result is something no one can take away from you.

'You should always remember that we don't just build on successes, we also build on failures.'

'Total commitment is not just hard work, it is total involvement. It is also about setting a goal. It is having a goal in front of you that makes a difference to the final outcome of your hard work.'