If a person can overcome that usurping king that exists within him/herself – [which is] the true tyrant, he/she will be able to overcome the world’s greatest powers. What I am saying is not a poem or an essay. These are objective facts. This was something [we] witnessed completely during the Islamic Revolution. If people succeed in overcoming their carnal self, they will make sacrifices. And when a nation makes sacrifices, no other power can overcome it. The enemy will gain victory over us if we are not victorious in overcoming our own carnal self. The first stage of a person’s failure, is the failure that takes place within him/herself. Whenever a love for envy, competition, and such things overcome a person, it causes him/her to tremble in his/her work. When your hand trembles, your enemy’s hand becomes strong. This result is inevitable.
Imam Khamenei
April 24, 1991
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