New Delhi: Addressing his favourite audience, President A P J Abdul Kalam on November 14 gave children his mantra for success- curiosity, thinking, knowledge, hard work and perseverance.

The President, addressing a gathering of school students at the First Child Education Summit on Children's Day, touched a range of subjects from science, freedom movement, education to networking of rivers in the country.

"There are three components in life to come up - curiosity, thinking and knowledge, sweat and perseverance. Many children ask me how in this complex world I reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan," he said.

Sharing his philosophy about hard work and thinking, he said, "Hard work has not killed anyone, less work may have. Thinking is progress. Non-thinking is destruction."

Describing the human mind as a "unique gift", he said the present education system brings workload but it cannot prevent the students from dreaming.

Advocating that the education system should bring out creativity, Kalam said any syllabus or curriculum which does not do so should be changed.

PTI