The Guiding Light: A Selection of Quotations From My Favourite Books

by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

From his schooldays to this day, when he is over eight decades old, Dr Kalam has been a lover of the written word. In The Guiding Light, he chooses the finest examples of writings from the numerous books, religious texts, philosophical tracts and poetry that he has read over the years. These words have impacted and shaped his thinking, helped him in times of need and made him the person he is. He has quoted from these works in his writings and lectures that have inspired millions of people he has met all over the world.
Included here are extracts from the works of writers as diverse as Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jiddu Krishnamurti, William Shakespeare, John Milton and Mahatma Gandhi; as well as lines from the Holy Koran, Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, the Thirukural and a myriad other works.
Eclectic, erudite and thought-provoking, The Guiding Light is a treasure house of wisdom and deep reflection. Beautiful and immortal, the pieces here will inspire generations of readers as they have inspired Dr Kalam.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 3, 2015

About the author

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil: அவுல் பகீர் ஜைனுலாப்தீன் அப்துல் கலாம்) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, was one of India's most distinguished scientists. He was an Aerospace engineer, professor, and chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. During his term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President.

Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical engineer with DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). He was responsible for the development of India's first satellite launch vehicle,the SLV-3 He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology. Kalam played a pivotal organisational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.

He has the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from thirty universities and the country's three highest civilian honours - Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990) and Bharat Ratna (1997).

Former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who became popular as ‘People’s President’, passed away on July 27th, 2015 at the age of 83 in Shillong, India.

Reviews

[Shadin Pranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mother had given me an advice. ‘Son, in your entire lifetime, if you can save or better someone else’s life, your birth as a human being and your life is a success. You have the blessing of the Almighty God.’
—M.K. Gandhi

WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
—Rabindranath Tagore



As a leader, one must sometimes take actions that are unpopular, or whose results will not be known for years to come. There are victories whose glory lies only in the fact that they are known to those who win them. This is particularly true of prison, where you must find consolation in being true to your ideals, even if no one else knows of it.
—Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela


[Pramod · Rating 4 out of 5]

A huge collection of passages from a plethora of great books from different ages. this book is a good storehouse of positivity and will be a great read for uplifting the mood. the only problem is that some excerpts will be difficult to understand and you will see out of context passages. I did my bit of skipping pages when it got a bit over my head.

[Satyasheel]

Awesome quotes about life and spirituality. I will definitely get a hard-copy of this book and read it regularly.

[Farhan Khalid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Connection between the worldly and the spiritual intrigued me

If there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in character

It there be beauty in character, there will be harmony in the home

If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation

If there be order in the nation, there will be peace in the world — Confucius

Success can only come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you

The religious man is he who is inwardly simple, who is not becoming anything

Such a mind is capable if extraordinary receptivity

Your children are not your children but the sons and daughter of life's longing for itself — Khalil Gibran

The reasonable man adapt himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself — Bernard Shaw

Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide — Emerson

Courage is resistance to fear — Mark Twain

People do not realize that problems in the outer world are a result of their beliefs, inner conflicts and fears and all of this originates from a false sense of self — Floyd Jerred

Work is love made visible

Time is inexplicable raw material of everything

[Manzoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a complication of the quotations. Though this is said to have inspired APJ, but it didn't appeal to me much. I feel this is due to the differences in our personality. But it was a good read.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Inspirational piece of work...

[Litesh Thakur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful compilation of different passages from some of the great works of notable personalities from all over the world which inspired Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam in his life.
Inspired from works of Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, William Shakespeare, C.V. Raman, Charles Dicken, Manu Smriti, Vedas, Koran, Japji, Bible, Thirukkural by Thiruvalluvar(maximum), Milton, Confucius and many more.
The book definitely leaves a positive impact.

[Shivakukatla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the excerpts and the sayings which are part of this book are truly enriching and enlightening. But I didn't understand a few excerpts and few I skipped because I felt they required the maturity and comprehension of beyond my knowledge and experience that I have accumulated upto the date. In future, I might re-read this book and at that time I'll be getting the most of these remarkable words said by some wonderful people.

[Gurpreet Mani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody should have to read this book.

[Aruchchunan Sivaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selection of many quotes from varies famous book

[Udayakumar DS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book to flip every morning

[Anuja · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of quotes from different books, worth reading once in life. Gives one a varied experience