Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom - and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.
Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.
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.
Perhaps the main motive behind my isolation was my desire to escape from the demands of relationships, which I consider very difficult in comparison to making rockets. All I desired was to be true to my way of life, to uphold the science of rocketry in my country and to retire with a clean conscience.
I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness.
We have not invaded anyone. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.
No religion has mandated killing others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion.