Wings of Fire: An Autobiography (Digital Exclusive Edition)

by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

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

"Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts."

Khalil Gibral

a good student could learn more from a bad teacher than a poor student from even a skilled teacher.

Teacher

"To succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand and master three mighty forces— desire, belief, and expectation."

Success in life

"With faith, you can change your destiny,"

Destiny

"Let not thy winged days be spent in vain. When once gone no gold can buy them back again."

Once gone no gold can buy

"He who knows others is learned, but the wise one is the one who knows himself. Learning without wisdom is of no use."

Learning without wisdom is of no use

once your mind stretches to a new level it never goes back to its original dimension.

Mind

"Seek the truth, and the truth shall set you free."

Truth

the best way to win was to not need to win.

Win

A painting with this theme should be the most commonplace thing at a Flight Facility, but the painting caught my eye because the soldiers on the side launching the rockets were not white, but dark-skinned,

"Bread baked without love is a bitter bread that feeds but half a man's hunger,"—those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.

Khalil Gibran -Bread

Without the slightest warning, something new breaks into your life and a secret decision is taken, a decision that you may be completely unconscious of, to start with.

God

It is generally believed that substantial strategic and technological planning greatly increases the odds of a 'no surprises' outcome.

Planning

Optimization wins only on paper, but would invariably lose later in the real world,

Optimization

For all your days prepare And meet them ever alike When you are the anvil, bear - When you are the hammer, strike.

Poem

Between the conception And the creation Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow.

Elliot

I have always considered the price of perfection prohibitive and allowed mistakes as a part of the learning process.

Perfection