• India is not just a stretch of land. India stands for tolerance, for compassion, for fellow feeling. India believes in unity in diversity.
• National integration is the internal defence of the country _ the domestic and civilian counter-part of the work the Defence Services do to safeguard the territorial integrity of the nation.
• My own view, which I have stated many times, is that no Indian should feel unwanted or unwelcome in any part of our country. And I think this is enshrined in our Constitution. Every Indian regardless of caste, religion, language or region, should be able to participate fully in every sphere of national activity in every part of our country. That is the objective towards which we have to work.
• We have to guard against any factor which weakens our unity. We need a broad national consensus on how to do this in a country as vast and diverse as ours. Ideas, processes, practices and tactics for any narrow advantage which encourage divisive sentiments have to be discouraged and curbed. It is not merely a matter of laws; we have enough laws, and we have found that no matter how many laws we make, loopholes can always be found in them. It is a question of broad political convictions and attitudes. Even more important is action in various fields _ political, social, educational, media, etc.
• The real basis of national integration should be widely shared goals and values, commitment to, what for want of a better word we call, "Indianness", without sacrificing the identity of sub-cultures.
• We must resist any kind of narrowness of thinking or of emotions which are very easy to provoke but more difficult to deal with once they are aroused.
• Apart from the human aspect, we are actually aware that India as a nation cannot remain together if disparities in incomes and living conditions of different regions, different states, different communities, tribes and casetes are not removed.
• We must forget high or low, we must forget where we live, what is our status and what are our views. But we must remember our motto to make India strong and great and all our thoughts must be how to progress along that path.
• To me all parts of India are equidistant.

• Communalism is a blot on the nation. It lets loose uncontrollable passions, turning friends into foes. It must be rooted out and this needs not only administrative steps but a concerted effort by all those who have the true interests of our country at heart.
• I should like to remind you that communal disturbances, which take place in the name of religion and cost lives of numerous innocent people and lead to destruction of property, are not communal alone, though they appear to be so. Behind these are political and economic considerations and narrowness of mind.
• Who are our enemies? It may be that we have external enemies and will have them in future too… But what was it that had weakened India in the first place because of which we lost our Independence? The same thing exists today, which can, and is, weakening the country. It is divisiveness in the name of religion and language, as also provincialism and casteism. I ask you, my brothers, my sisters and dear children, which country has been able to progress without unity and hard work?
• India belongs equally to Hindus and Muslims, Christians and Siksh, Buddhists and Jains, Parsis and others. All of them have equal rights and must get equal respect and protection. Sikhism itself was born as a faith to bring together people of different religions. The life of Guru Nanak Dev symbolised tolerance. The great Guru taught love and brotherhood. The moral of the Granth Sahib is truth and kindliness. In the long and glorious age of national independence, Punjab and the Sikhs made a shining contribution. Let not a minuscule minority among the Sikhs be allowed to trample under foot civilised norms for which Sikhism is well known, and to tarnish the image of a brave and patriotic community.

• Poverty is the most degrading experience of human existence _ an intensely moral question. Growth by itself does not end poverty, it is the manner in which we plan to grow that matters.
• The improvement of people's live is the first duty of a government. All our plans and programmes have been undertaken to strengthen the nation and to take it further on the path of self-reliance, so that it can solve its old and new problems.
• When the 20-Point Program was first announced in 1975, I had cautioned you not to expect miracles. Then, as now, there is only one magic which can remove poverty _ and that is hard work, helped by a clear sense of purpose and discipline. On a steep road there is no time or place for pause. Our national motto is `Satyamev Jayate' _ Truth Alone Wins. In our daily lives we should adopt an additional motto : `Shrama eva Jayate'. Dedication to truth and toil is the bedrock of respect, progress and prosperity.
• We have to convince the poor and I think perhaps ourselves also, that they will not have to wait indefinitely for a change. Their patience is not limitless nor should ours be.
• If we want to be a modern nation, then we have to make a special effort to see that all those sections of the people, who have not had opportunities of development and progress, should be helped. Not by other people going and doing things but by helping them to do things for themselves.

• Self-reliance is good for every country, but for a country of our size and circumstances, it is indispensable. It is the only basis on which there can be non-exploitative international cooperation. We can participate in such cooperation only to the extent that we are able to adapt and assimilate what we need from outside, while striving for original ideas and work ourselves.
• Self-reliance ultimately is scientific self-reliance. Our scientists should have the opportunity to go as far as their ability takes them.
• Science must permeate the whole of our national life, all areas of endeavour, and all regions. Otherwise, it will only accentuate disparities within the country, as indeed it has done between countries in the last 200 years, helping the relatively strong, and making existence more difficult for the poor. Science should be an innovative and liberating force, an ally of social justice.
• I am often asked why India should concern itself with advanced areas of science like atomic energy and space instead of concentrating on agriculture, elementary sanitation and the like, which are the obvious needs of our people. We are taunted about wanting to fly when we cannot feed ! our answer is simple : Work in these advanced fields is of immense practical benefit _ even necessity _ for us. This is not vainglory. Our space effort is important for education and communication and deeper knowledge of the monsoon, which rules our economic calendar. The ground can be better mapped from the sky for programmes of mineralogical investigation.
• Science cannot be only for haves. The have-nots need it more. India looks to science as a way out of economic backwardness.
• We want technology which will reduce drudgery and improve output without displacing the labour technology that will use locally available materials.

• Education should not divide but bring people together… The aim of education, particularly of school children, should be to develop integrated personalities, and this is possible only if we have an integrated view of our own cultural traditions. No aspect of our civilization is the exclusive preserve of any one group. India's heritage of 5,000 years is the legacy of all humankind.
• Education does not mean only refining manual, vocational and intellectual skills. Essentially, it is a process of deepening the spirit.
• Actually I wonder if it is right to think of education in terms of Muslim, Christian or Hindu education. One can have religious teaching and indeed the inculcation of certain moral and spiritual values is essential but the foundation of education should be national and of a high level.
• Education is essential for all sections of the society. We can have uniform development only when those who, for one reason or another, have been deprived are enabled to catch up with the rest.
• One's education is not judged by what one knows but hat one becomes.
• Education is not merely the accumulation of information but the discipline of mind that makes for a balanced, well adjusted person who is capable of meeting the changing challenges of life.
• Education is not an easy way towards employment but a training to make better men and women.

• The youth are the backbone of India. The strength of the nation depends on their strength. Our hopes are prinned on the youth of India.
• Students have played an important part in the freedom movement of their country, whether in India or abroad. If the student community had not been in the forefront of our struggle for freedom, we would not have achieved the success we got.
• It should be indeed the responsibility of the youth to infuse new purpose into our values and bring new dignity to our civilisations.
• The student stage is the stage of preparation. Society owes its young an education. After school and college, the educated young owe society a duty. This duty is to place the skills they have learnt and the knowledge they have earned at the disposal of society.
• It there is one section above all others who should be our concern _ it must be our youth. They are the inheritors of the future. In all things the torch must pass to the next generation.
• We, who are much older must help to create an atmosphere in which the burden on the young becomes a little lighter.
• The future of any country and of our world rests on our young people. It is a very big responsibility. It is a very heavy burden. But I think young people are capable of shouldering it.
• We are facing the biggest challenge of our history today because things are changing very fast in the world and unless we can keep up with this pace, unless we can keep up with the other countries of the world, we will not be able to make the sort of country which the founders of our independence dreamt of or which we desire for the younger generation of today. When you work with discipline, with team spirit, in a constructive and creative spirit, then you succeed.

• An uneducated woman becomes a helpless dependent on her parents, her husband and her children. She considers her own life a burden. Education gives a feeling of self-respect, expanding her range of options. She can work, make a mark in the profession and earn recognition for her parents.
• I do not think that any society can progress if half of its members do not have equal opportunity and their talents and capabilities are ignored. This is my interest in the women's movement.
• It is through education that women can stand on their own feet and contribute to the nation and to society in many different ways.
• Women are women, they do not want to imitate men, they have distinctive personalities and those personalities should be given full play, full opportunity without any discrimination because of sex or race or religion or caste or creed.
• University women cannot ignore the big gap which exists between the educated women and others not so lucky. To share knowledge and skills with the less-privileged women, to explain new ideas to them, to combat superstition and to safeguard their interests should be the duty of the educated.

• The exploitation of nature has given us many short-term gains, but there is increasing realisation that humankind cannot survive if the destructive instinct is not checked.
• Some people still consider concern for the environment an expensive and perhaps unnecessary luxury. But the preservation of the environment is an economic consideration since it is closely related to the depletion, restoration and increase of resources. In any policy decision and its implementation we must balance present gains with likely damage in the not too distant future. Human ecology needs a more comprehensive approach.
• One cannot be truly human and civilised unless one looks upon not only all fellow-men but all creation with the eyes of a friend. Throughout India, edicts carved on rocks and iron pillars are reminders that twenty-town centuries ago the Emperor Ashoka defined a king's duty as not merely to protect citizens and punish wrong-doers but also to preserve animal life and forest trees.
• The forester should be a friend of the tribals and see to it that their requirements from the forest are completely met. Stage by stage, they should also be educated in the use of alternative sources so that they can depend on the trees only for fruits and other forest produce which does not result in the destruction of the tree itself.

• Health is intrinsic to development Any people who are physically below par cannot give their best.
• Health is the starting point of all welfare. The health of the nation depends on the health of the individuals. Without it we can have no progress in any direction that would be enduring or meaningful.
• Health programmes must be an integral part of our general development.
• Everyone should recognise that health is not luck or chance but must be worked for everyday of one's life. And I can say this from personal knowledge and personal knowledge and personal experience.
• Health and family planning are not a fall-out of development but an indispensable input.
• Family planning is not an isolated program to help the census ensumerator or to lighten the burdern of Yojana Bhawan planners. It is a key to every individual's and every family's betterment.
• The young people must be in the vanguard of the movement to restrict population growth and to promote sustained development. In schools and colleges and through non-formal education they must be made conscious of the dynamics of population growth and its implications for their won future well-being and that of the nation.

• The non-Aligned Movement is not a mere or casual collectionof individual States. It is a vital historical process. It is a commingling of many historical, spiritual and cultural streams. It is the expressionof the aspirations of the long-deprived and the newly free. It is assertion of humankind's will to survive despite oppression, despite the growing arms race and ideological divisions.
• The desire for peace is universal even within countries which themselves produce nuclear weapons and in those where they are deployed. The Non-Aligned Movement is history's biggest peace movement.
• Our quest has been friendship with all, submission to none. Our fight was not for ourselves alone but for all mankind. Nor was it merely for political independence in its narrow sense. We were determined to change the old order, to eradicate poverty, to emancipate society firm rigid stratification, evil customs and superstition.

I do not care whether I live or die. I have lived a long life. And if I am proud of anything it is that my whole life has been spent in service. I am proud of this as of nothing else. And as long as there is breath in me, my life will be spent in service. And when my life ends, I can say that every drop of my blood will keep India alive and strengthen it. It is my hope that people, specially the youth and women, will think about this and take the responsibility on their own sholders. I have full confidence in the people of India that they will never take the wrong path.