"Do not wait for something big to happen start where you are with whatever you have."

Yes, that's true and i too believe in this Kalam Sir quote. Though he is not live as present but noone can deny that his soul, his ideology, his wisdom, his simplicity will remain alive till the time we have mankind in this earth.

Dr APJ Kalam was born on October 15, 1931, in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu. He had a very struggling childhood. He belonged to a poor family, so he decided to support his family and started selling newspaper at very young age.

Kalam, never complaints about the situations, he always believed on the opposide side. He often spoke to children and the country's youth — inspiring them to think big in life; he also penned a number of books.

Though his contribution for building India was throughout his life but he was responsible for the development and operationalizes of the ballistic missiles such as Nag, Akash, Trishul, Agni, Prithvi, which is why he is called the 'missile man'. Kalam knew that India had the potential to become one of the nuclear countries, and we can build our own Nuclear missile. He played a crucial role in the 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear tests. He was also associated with India's space programme and missile development programme.

He was appointed as 11th President of India from year 2002 to 2007. You may surprise to know that he was India's first President who was a bachelor and a vegetarian. Before that he was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the PM and Secretary of the DRDO for seven years (1992-1999). He was the Project Director of India’s first satellite Rohini. He was the man behind the India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III).

He inspired us to think big in our life. He penned nearly 25 books like India 2020: A vision for the new millennium, Wings of Fire: An Autobiography, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power within India, Mission of India: A Vision of Indian Youth and Turning Points: A Journey through Challenges. His autobiography Wings of Fire: An Autobiography was first published in English. Later it was translated into 13 languages including French and Chinese. There are six additional biographies on his life and works.

You will be surprised to know that he received honorary doctorates from 48 universities and institutions from India and abroad.

Kalam was awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award in India- Bharat Ratna (1997)

On the occasion of his birthday, the United Nations (UN) in 2015 had declared to observe it as World Student’s Day.

Kalam’s visit to Switzerland is commemorated as Science Day in the country. This declaration was made in his honour by the Swiss government after the sad demise of this great personality.

Throughout his life, he supported the abolition of the death penalty saying that as President of India he felt pain in deciding mercy petitions of death row convicts.

Kalam liked to teach to young India and he wanted to share his experience to everyone, that's why he used to take guest lecture all over the world, and he was one of the fortunate one, because during his last breath he was doing the same thing which he liked most. 

APJ Abdul Kalam Death Anniversary: He died due to a cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Shillong on July 27, 2015.

You must be wondered that why have i given this title for this post. So here it comes the final story...despite being a celebrity of India, Kalam was so focused on his work that the never thought about to create wealth. He donated all his salary, and he owned these following things.

3 suits (2 Indian, 1 Western )

6 pants(2 DRDO uniforms)

4 shirts(2 DRDO uniforms)

2500 books

1 flat (which he has donated)

1 Padmashri

1 Padmabhushan

1 Bharat Ratna

7 doctorates

1 website

1 twitter account

1 email id

He didn't have any TV, AC, car, jewellery, shares, land or bank balance.

He had even donated the last 8 years' pension towards the development of his village.

He was a real patriot and true Indian.

India will never forget his sacrifice, and he'll be always inspiration to all of us, may be one day one of us, will follow his path and participation to build a new India.

If you want to know more about Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, you can refer to his autobiography - Wings of Fire, click to buy.

We all know what a wonderful man Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was and whatever he said it became a quote. So here are some motivational Abdulkalam quotes in English.

1. Dream, Dream, Dream! Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action.

2. Be active! Take on responsibility! Work for the things you believe in. If you do not, you are surrendering your fate to others.

3. If four things are followed – having a great aim, acquiring knowledge, hard work, and perseverance – then anything can be achieved.

4. It Is Very Easy To Defeat Someone, But It Is Very Hard To Win Someone

5. You have to have a goal but you have to have strategies to achieve it as fast as possible.

6. If you fail, never give up because F.A.I.L. means ‘First Attempt In Learning’.

7. The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation.

8. End is not the end, if fact E.N.D. means "Effort Never Dies"

9. The reality of your own nature should determine your speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become tense and high-strung, slow down.

10. If you get No as an answer, remember N.O. means "Next Opportunity".

11. We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.

12. Don’t fear facing failure in the first attempt, because even the successful Math’s starts with ‘Zero’ only.

13. Never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place – that is, the unique you. Have an aim in life, continuously acquire knowledge, work hard, and have perseverance to realize the great life.

14. For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool.

15. When troubles come, try to understand the relevance of your sufferings.

16. Suffering is the essence of success!!!

17. Don't rest after your first victory because if you fail in the second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.

18. When learning is purposeful, creativity blossoms. When creativity blossoms, thinking emanates. When thinking emanates, knowledge is fully lit. When knowledge is lit, the economy flourishes.

19. You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

20. Learning gives creativity, Creativity leads to thinking, Thinking provides knowledge, Knowledge makes you great.

21. Small aim is a crime; have great aim.

22. Dream is not something that you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.

23. Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way, Hard Work is the solution.

24. 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.

25. Man needs difficulties in life because they are necessary to enjoy success.

26. 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'.

27. Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.

28. To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.

29. Don’t read success stories, you will only get a message. Read failure stories, you will get some ideas to get success.

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

31. Failure will never overtake me if my definition of success is strong enough.

32. I firmly believe that unless one has tasted the bitter pill of failure, one cannot aspire enough for success.

33. I am not handsome but I can give my hand to someone who needs help... Because beauty is required in the heart not in the face....

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

35. 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.

36. Total commitment is the common denominator among all successful men and women.

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

38. The country doesn’t deserve anything less than success from us. Let us aim for success.

39. Success is when your signature becomes an autograph.

40. To live only for some unknown future is superficial. It is like climbing a mountain to reach the peak without experiencing its sides. The sides of the mountain sustain life, not the peak. This is where things grow, experience is gained and technologies are mastered. The importance of the peak lies only in the fact that it defines the sides.

41. Two rules for a peaceful life: Depression in failure should never go to the heart, and ego in success should never go to the brain.

42. Why be afraid of difficulties, sufferings and problems? When troubles come, try to understand the relevance of your sufferings. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection.

43. Confidence and Hard work is the best medicine to kill the disease called failure. It will make you a successful person.

44. Desire, when it stems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and intense, possesses awesome electromagnetic energy. This energy is released into the ether each night, as the mind falls into the sleep state. Each morning it returns to the conscious state reinforced with the cosmic currents. That which has been imaged will surely and certainly be manifested. You can rely, young man, upon this ageless promise as surely as you can rely upon the eternally unbroken promise of sunrise... and of Spring.

45. To succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand and master three mighty forces – Desire, Belief, and Expectation.

46. What makes life in Indian organizations difficult is the widespread prevalence of this very contemptuous pride. It stops us from listening to our juniors, subordinates and people down the line. You cannot expect a person to deliver results if you humiliate him, nor can you expect him to be creative if you abuse him or despise him. The line between firmness and harshness, between strong leadership and bullying, between discipline and vindictiveness is very fine, but it has to be drawn.

47. Problems are a part of life. Suffering is the essence of success.

48. Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.

49. If you want to leave your footprints On the sands of time Do not drag your feet.

50. Without your involvement you can’t succeed. With your involvement you can’t fail.

51. Behind the parents stands the school, and behind the teacher the home.

52. Within the mind are all the resources required for successful living. Ideas are present in the consciousness, which when released and given scope to grow and take shape, can lead to successful events.

53. God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us to tap and develop these powers

54. 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.

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

56. Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity.

57. A big shot is a little shot who keeps on shooting, so keep trying.

58. Leaders can create a high productivity level by providing the appropriate organizational structure and job design, and by acknowledging and appreciating hard work.

59. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection.

60. For the success of any mission, it is necessary to have creative leadership. Creative leadership is vital for government, non-governmental organizations as well as for industries.

61. God has not promised Skies always blue, Flower-strewn pathways All our life through; God has not promised Sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, Peace without pain.

62. A leader can only be free to lead his team if he keeps abreast of all that is happening around him – in real time.

63. 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.

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

65. The youth need to be enabled to become job generators from job seekers.

66. Dream is not what you see when you sleep at night, but dream is something which does not let you sleep.

67. A productive leader must be very competent in staffing.

68. When your hopes and dreams and goals are dashed, search among the wreckage, you may find a golden opportunity hidden in the ruins.

69. To me, the level of responsibility is measured by one’s ability to confront the decision-making process without any delay or distraction.

70. Total commitment is a crucial quality for those who want to reach the very top of their profession.

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

72. You cannot change your FUTURE, you can change your HABITS. And surely your HABITS will change your FUTURE.

73. Knowledge is a tangible asset, quite often the most important tool in your work.

74. There are more reviews available than the views.

75. Great teachers emanate out of knowledge, passion and compassion.

76. My impression of the American people can be summarized by a quotation from Benjamin Franklin, "Those things that hurt instruct!" I realized that people in this part of the world meet their problems head on. They attempt to get out of them rather than suffer them.

77. Knowledge cannot be taken away from anyone except by obsolescence.

78. What you are destined to become is not revealed now but it is predetermined.

79. Creativity is the key to success in the future, and primary education is where teachers can bring creativity in children at that level.

80. See the flower, how generously it distributes perfume and honey. When it's done, it falls away quietly. Try to be like the flower, unassuming despite all its qualities

81. Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.

82. I have repeatedly seen how people are poor at articulating what they want—until they see a work center doing something they don't want them to do.

83. One best book is equal to a hundred good friends but one good friend is equal to a library.

84. Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model.

85. If You're a Mechanical Engineer Don't Feel So Proud, Because You Can Repair Everything Except Your Own Heart"!!!

86. I strongly believe that teachers need to tell students about great lives and make children understand their history and heritage.

87. The best way to win was to not need to win. The best performances are accomplished when you are relaxed and free of doubt.

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

89. There are boundaries that dictate life: you can only lift so much weight; you can only learn so fast; you can only work so hard; you can only go so far!

90. Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honor for me.

91. A large number of scientists and engineers leave this country at their first opportunity to earn more money abroad. It is true that they definitely get greater monetary benefits, but could anything compensate for this love and respect from one's own countrymen?

92. One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let the students ask questions.

93. 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.

94. The real journey of the Indian aerospace programme, however, had begun with the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme. What is it that distinguishes a sounding rocket from a Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) and from a missile? In fact, there are three.

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

96. Ultimately, education in its real sense is the pursuit of truth. It is an endless journey through knowledge and enlightenment.

97. The ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth.

98. Sometimes, it’s better to bunk a class and enjoy it with friends, because now, when I look back, marks never make me laugh, but memories do.

99. Change is crucial. It brings new thought; new thought leads to innovative actions.

100. Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you, but to help you realize your hidden potential and power, let difficulties know that you too are difficult.

101. Climbing to the top demands strength, whether to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.

102. If you are born with fame, it is an accident. If you die with fame, it is an achievement.

103. 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.

104. Science is a beautiful gift to humanity; we should not distort it.

105. What you imagine, is what will transpire. What you believe is what you will achieve.

106. Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.

107. Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident.

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

109. You see, God helps only people who work hard. That principle is very clear.

110. In a democracy, the well-being, individuality and happiness of every citizen is important for the overall prosperity, peace and happiness of the nation.

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

112. Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.