11 inspiring quotes of Abdul Kalam with hidden meanings to stir up your soul

Five years ago, during this time, when Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam passed away, it felt as if India was orphaned. The sadness was so overwhelming that deep down it felt like losing someone very close. Millions went through a similar feeling.

From selling newspapers as a child to support his family, to becoming India’s leading space scientist to finally becoming the country’s 11th President and a world leader and then settling as a teacher for schools and universities, never before the country witnessed power, influence, exemplary modesty and kindness in the same friendly frame as was in the case of Dr. Kalam (after Gandhi probably).

At his 70s and 80s, he was a youth icon! He was adored by adults and children alike. He was revered by the scientific community and respected by all in a political system where people were usually at constant loggerheads with each other.

On his 5th death anniversary, I felt an urge to revisit this great man’s life and thought it would be apt to share some of the hidden treasures he tried to give us through his highly inspiring quotes.

1. "Dream is not what you see in sleep. Dream is something that doesn’t let you sleep."

Dr. Kalam was known to be one of the greatest visionaries and achievers of the world. He had a deep understanding of the dynamics of goals, dreams and ambitions which can be of somewhat complicated nature (look around - how many people say they want to achieve something but that desire is not matched by their actions).

Two things we can understand from this wonderful quote.

First, if our dreams and goals in life do not wake us up from the bed, then they are probably not our real dreams and goals in the very first place. And if still they somehow are, then we have not put habits, processes and tools in place to ignite us all the time towards those dreams.

Second, no dreams can come true without actions. It’s as simple as that. If our thoughts, goals, and ambitions are not aligned with our actions with equal power, then there would not be the desired results.

Speaking of actions, let's look at the next powerful quote.

2. If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun.

It’s quite self-explanatory. Hard work is a must to be successful.

But take a deeper look and you will find more meaning to it than just hard work. 

It’s process vs. success. 

It’s so very important to respect the process that goes behind success. The sweat and blood, the discipline, the perseverance against all the odds, the investment of one’s time in gathering knowledge on a subject and the sacrifice of one’s pleasurable activities in favour of one’s goals.

So many people get carried away by the glamour and the “look” of success. They want it. They want to live that life as would be defined by that particular success.

But put them through the process and they might lose interest in it. 

The process is mandatory, a must-have, the foundation before we can taste success. It must be enjoyed, worshipped and managed with tremendous care.

The next quotes indicate towards this very process.

3. You cannot change your future, but, you can change your habits, and surely your habits will change your future.

Success is a result of daily habits. APJ Abdul Kalam knew it and knew it very well.

Take up any goals in your life and the above will apply. 

If you want to lose weight, build muscles, become a successful writer or an entreprenuer, you have to break them down into daily tasks/rituals and vehemently stick to them till those rituals become a habit which will finally allow you to achieve your goals.

Now, this is interesting. It is not just forming a habit around one area of activity. It has to permeate in almost every area of our lives. Discipline is key.

For example, I want to write 100 words every day so that it becomes a habit towards my writing goals. But I can’t achieve that unless I wake up early because I have my day-job to do, in the evenings I have to do my exercise and then I have to spend time with my family etc. If I miss to get up early, I will miss on my writing ritual or I may have to sacrifice my exercising ritual to give way for writing. 

Bottomline is that not building habits or messing up with them constantly will create bad habits which will viciously hamper our life goals.

Just remember, successful people build habits and maintain them, not for weeks or months, but for years and years.

4. The two most important life-goals I would like every youth to have: one - increase the amount of time that you have at your disposal and two - increase what you can achieve in the time available.

This one is laden with nuggets of powerful wisdom. 

We can't form winning habits, we can’t stick to the process as explained before, and we can’t achieve our dreams unless we manage our time judiciously and efficiently.

When I saw the quote above, words like "prioritisation" and "saying No to things and people" came to my mind.

• You got to prioritise the most value-added tasks of your life so that you can get the most out of your time vis-à-vis your goals.
• Make plans and daily habits around the prioritised tasks and goals.
• Execute those plans ruthlessly. Be prepared to spend all of your will power on this.
• Say NO. If you can’t say NO to people, your prioritisation will all get messed up, you will not have enough time to stick to your plans, you will end up doing work that does not add value to your life and everything related will shake and break.

5. What is the secret of success? Right decisions. How do you make right decisions? Experience. How do you gain experience? Wrong decisions.

As one of the leading and most successful scientists, Dr Kalam lived and breathed the power of experimenting, failing and learning.

The more the experiments, the more the failures, the more are the learning. Progress in the scientific world happens through experimentation; which basically means taking actions. Doing.

In life, it’s the same principle.

The best way to grow and learn in our lives is to do. 

Underneath the “wrong decisions” in the quote this is what the meaning is. Take small actions frequently, fail and learn from them. More you do that, the closer you get to the destination.

In many of his books and speeches, Dr. Kalam encouraged people to overcome the fear of failure. As he knew too well that the road to success was only through failures.

The next couple of quotes are a case in point.

6. If you fail, never give up because F.A.I.L. means “First Attempt In Learning”. End is not the end, in fact E.N.D. means “Effort Never Dies.” If you get No as an answer, remember N.O. means “Next Opportunity”. So, let’s be positive.

A stimulating way to look at failures and positivity! Write the quote down somewhere and paste it on your wall.

7. All birds find shelter during a rain. But an eagle avoids rain by flying above the clouds. Problems are common, but attitude makes the difference. 

Yes, everyone faces problems.

But complaining does not solve it.

Escaping does not solve it.

Blaming other people or factors does not solve it.

The only way to solve it is to face the problem. And when you do that with courage, application of mind, faith and positivity, then creative solutions to problems and issues will show themselves up.

8. A Fool can become a Genius when he understands he is a Fool. But a Genius can become a Fool when he understands he is a Genius. 

What is new today will become old tomorrow. Technologies that are relevant today will become redundant tomorrow. Existing philosophies, thinking and culture will be challenged, altered and replaced by new ones in the future.

Evolution never stops. Then how can learning stop?

No one is perfect. And no one can be perfect. One can only be an improved version of oneself to greater heights of wisdom, knowledge and skills.

And if a President of a country had the humility to understand and appreciate this, then what’s stopping us?

I will tell you what can stop us from a path of continuous learning and development. It’s our ego and arrogance which actually translates into foolishness. So, control these demons all the time.

As much as Dr. Kalam was known for his concrete achievements, he was equally known for his exemplary modesty and humane nature. 

This brings me to the next couple of quotes.

9. In life no one will remember how you looked, walked, talked or what you did. Everyone just remembers you by the way you made them feel when they were with you.

So much truth is there in this statement. Nothing matters; absolutely nothing matters, than being RESPECTFUL to people. 

We gravitate towards people who give us love and respect. 

We like to be amongst people who give us love and respect. 

True friends can only be gained by love and respect; never through things like power and money.

10. I'm not a handsome guy, but I can give my Hand to Someone who needs help. Beauty is in the heart, not in the face.

People who selflessly help us in our greatest time of need, people who stand by us functionally and morally in our greatest time of need are the real knights in our lives. They are our gems and diamonds. 

So, treat them, treasure them and care for them more than you would do for any precious stones. Think about them everyday in your prayers. Such hearts are a rarity in the world we live in.

11. The best brains of the nation may be found on the last benches of the classroom.

The best for the last :). Not because I was always a last-bencher :) :). 

The "last-bencher", to me, is a metaphor for people who do not conform to conventions. They are the incurable dreamers. They are the ones who think differently. They are the ones who dare to imagine and are not bound by their textbooks. They are the silent rebels who go against the flow of the current. They are ones who may not have understood numbers but they understood people. They could be the kids with conditions like dyslexia or attention deficit disorder.

So, just because your grades are not good, just because you are not good in rote learning, just because you are not the one who raises your hand for textbook questions asked by your teacher and just because you are not a first-bencher DOES NOT MEAN you are not intelligent. It does not mean that your application of mind is inferior to anyone else. It does not mean you will be any less successful than anyone else.

A lot of the "last benchers" from my school time, who may or may not have been academically great, turned out to be one of the most creative, the most entrepreneurial, the most balanced and the street-smartest.

I have worked with last-benchers and school drop-outs and their intelligence has often put me to shame. And I have a double masters!

It should be absolutely motivating for parents, children and youths that this quote is coming from a man who was academically very bright and was a teacher, scientist and a statesman at the highest possible level.

On his 5th death anniversary, I can only hope, wish and pray that we can follow some of the these wisdom in our stride towards our goals.

Aninda Baruah

For D&M

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Note: When I say successful, it does not mean the "success" represented by celebs and covered in tabloids. Any person who deliberately sets goals and achieves them with daily habits, planning, integrity and laser-like focus and determination is successful.