Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met Thursday morning with teachers and university professors of North Khorasan province. At the meeting, His Eminence said that the most important need of the country is to create hope, dynamism and self-confidence among Iranian youth.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that it is necessary to strengthen self-confidence from childhood and added: "Unfortunately in spite of all the work we have done since the beginning of the Revolution, a completely wrong idea was established in our culture and the effects have not yet disappeared. This wrong idea is the feeling that we need the west, the feeling that we are inferior to the west. Unfortunately, this feeling has not been dispelled yet and this is due to lack of self-confidence."
His Eminence said that one of the most important responsibilities of teachers is to instill a sense of self-confidence into Iranian students.
Ayatollah Khamenei also said that it is necessary to promote the spirit of curiosity and teamwork among Iranian children and youth. He stressed that students should be encouraged to avoid laziness and to study hard.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to Iran's scientific advances and reiterated: "Currently, we are ranked 16th in the world in terms of science. Who would have believed this? This is the statistic that has been presented by prestigious centers in the world. Another center predicts that Iran will have ranked 4th in science by the year 2018."
Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iran's contribution to global production of knowledge has improved to two percent and added that these advances have been achieved under international pressures and sanctions.
His Eminence stressed: "These great scientific and academic advances under these circumstances are very promising and they show that there is a spirit of self-confidence among the youth."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added: "It is necessary to constantly promote hope, optimism and dynamism and to seriously avoid promoting despair."
Elsewhere in his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the need for patience and stated: "If our political groups are patient in their relationships with each other, their performance will improve. If different political groups who support different people exercise patience, the conditions will be far better. However, this does not mean that we should close our eyes to the exiting evils and shortcomings."