Good Governance Day: A Look At Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Top Quotes On His 100th Birth Anniversary

Vajpayee served as the prime minister first for a term of 13 days in May 1996, then for a period of 13 months in 1998-1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was bestowed with Bharat Ratna in 2015.

India celebrates former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday on December 26 as Good Governance Day. Vajpayee, who was loved by all, was known for his exceptional oratory skills. He was bestowed with Bharat Ratna in 2015. Vajpayee served as the prime minister first for a term of 13 days in May 1996, then for a period of 13 months in 1998-1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. He died in 2018.

Here are some of the quotes by the BJP stalwart on issues ranging from secularism, education, India-Pakistan relations and his love for hills.

1. "India is a multi-religious nation. It is against both its nature and culture to practice discrimination or to do injustice to anybody on the grounds of faith. We should always care for the minorities and be attentive towards their welfare." 

2. "I dream of an India that is prosperous, strong and caring. An India, that regains a place of honour in the comity of great nations."

3. "If India is not secular, then India is not India at all."

4. "Though I stay in Delhi, I often think about Himachal."

5. "Poverty is multidimensional. It extends beyond money incomes to education, health care, political participation, and advancement of one's own culture and social organization."

6. "Education, in the truest self of the term, is a process of self-discovery. It is the art of self-sculpture. It trains the individual not so much in specific skills or in specific branch of knowledge, but in the flowering of his or her latent intellectual, artistic and humanist capacities."

7."Our aim may be as high as the endless sky, but we should have a resolve in our minds to walk ahead, hand-in-hand, for victory will be ours."

8."Today there is a paramount need that we maintain peace in our society and strengthen the bonds of brotherhood. Development requires peace, goodwill and mutual cooperation. Those who wish to divide the society on the basis of religion, caste or community are doing harm to the country."

9."India helped Bangladesh to achieve independence. The Bangladeshis should remain happy inside the territory of their own country."

10."India was secular even when Muslims hadn't come here and Christians hadn't set foot on this soil. It is not as if India became secular after they came. They came with their own modes of worship, and they, too, were given a place of honour and respect. They had the freedom to worship God as per their wish and inclination."

11."We believe that the United States and the rest of the international community can play a useful role by exerting influence on Pakistan to put a permanent and visible end to cross-border terrorism against India."