The 81-year-old Mukherjee, who will move from the 340-room sprawling presidential residence to a bungalow on Tuesday after handing over the baton to Ram Nath Kovind, said he had tried to spread happiness to a few villages in the neighbourhood in the last five years.
"The journey continues," he said.
Highlights of Pranab Mukherjee's farewell speech
- When I speak to you tomorrow, it will be as a citizen– a pilgrim like all of you in India’s onward march towards glory.
- We extended our experience to a few villages in the neighbourhood.
- During my five years in Rashtrapati Bhavan, we tried to build a humane and happy township.
- Social inclusion would ensure access to the fruits of progress to all.
- We must empower the poorest of the poor and ensure that the fruits of our policies reach the last person in the line. Eradication of poverty would provide a strong boost to happiness.
- For us, creation of an inclusive society has to be an article of faith.
- Our universities should not be a place for rote-memorizing but an assembly of inquisitive minds. Creative thinking, innovation and scientific temper have to be promoted in our institutions of higher learning.
- As I had said on assuming Office of the President, education is the alchemy that can take India to its next golden age. A reordering of society is possible through the transformative power of education.
- Only a non-violent society can ensure the participation of all sections of the people in the democratic process. Power of non-violence has to be resurrected to build a compassionate and caring society.
- The capacity for compassion and empathy is the true foundation of our civilization. We must free our public discourse from all forms of violence, physical as well as verbal.
- There are divergent strands in public discourse; we may argue, we may agree or we may not agree. But we cannot deny the essential prevalence of multiplicity of opinion. Otherwise, a fundamental character of our thought process will wither away.
- We derive our strength from tolerance; it has been part of our collective consciousness for centuries.
- The soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance. The multiplicity in culture, faith and language is what makes India special.
- My temple has been the Parliament of India and my passion has been the service of the people of India.
- 5 years ago, when I took the oath of office of President, I promised to preserve, protect & defend our Constitution. Each day of these five years, I was conscious of my responsibility.
- For development to be real, the poorest of the land must feel that they are a part of the nation’s narrative
- I have received much more from the country than I have given; for that, I will remain ever indebted to people of India
- I am overwhelmed by a deep sense of gratitude for the people of India for the trust & confidence they reposed in me.