Chase your dreams, but make sure you do not find short cuts. The path might be difficult, but don’t give up.
What it means
Go after what you want, but get there honestly. The hard way may be the only fair way, and that is no reason to quit.
It’s two pieces of advice in one: ambition, and a limit on how you pursue it. Tendulkar’s father put them side by side, so neither has to be given up for the other.
The context
On 16 November 2013, after his last international match, Tendulkar gave a farewell speech at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thanking the people who had shaped his 24 years in international cricket. He began with his father: “The most important person in my life, and I have missed him a lot since 1999 when he passed away, my father.”
This was the advice his father gave him when Tendulkar was 11, and he told the crowd, “I have simply followed his instructions.” He added: “Above all, he told me to be a nice human being, which I will continue to do so.”
Why it matters
Short cuts are tempting exactly when the path is hardest, and that’s when this advice bites. It doesn’t pretend the honest way is easy; it says it “might be difficult” and asks you to keep going anyway.
It’s also a good sentence to hand on. It came from a father to a son of 11, and it’s simple enough for a child to remember and serious enough to steer a career.
About Sachin Tendulkar
Indian cricketer, born 1973
Sachin Tendulkar, born on 24 April 1973, is a former Indian international cricketer who captained the national team and is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers in the game’s history. He took up cricket at 11, made his Test debut at 16 against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989, and played for Mumbai and India for more than 24 years.
He is the highest run-scorer in international cricket and the only batsman to score 100 international centuries, and he was part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup. He retired from all cricket in November 2013 after his 200th Test, and after that last match the Prime Minister’s Office announced he would receive the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. He was the first sportsperson to receive it.
The source, and how we checked it
It comes from Farewell speech, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 16 November 2013.
The full passage:
He gave me freedom at the age of 11, and told me that ‘chase your dreams, but make sure you do not find short cuts. The path might be difficult, but don’t give up’. And I have simply followed his instructions.
We matched the words against Scroll.in's full transcript of the speech. These are his father's words as Tendulkar recalled them; we start them with a capital letter, and the full sentence is given as the passage. We last checked this on 5 November 2026.