"The youth are a source of movement and a bubbling spring of motivation, movement, enthusiasm, invention and creativeness."
Ayatollah Khamenei, in a meeting with the government officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran; June 14, 2016.
If we rely on and trust domestic forces, the innovation of the youth and the activities of minds and hands inside the country, we will liberate ourselves from the arrogance of and being beholden to foreign enemies. This is the right path. The meaning of the economy of resistance is that we should take a look to see the infinite capacities which exist inside the country and to activate these capacities by developing good and proper plans. We should do this so that these talents can be utilized.
A couple of days ago, I said in a meeting that in any area we relied on the innovation and talents of our youth, that area bubbled and blossomed like a spring. This happened in different nuclear and pharmaceutical areas and in areas related to different treatments, stem cells, nanotechnology and industrial-defensive plans. Whenever we invested in and relied on young, enthusiastic, religious and pure forces inside the country and whenever we appreciated their value, we managed to move things forward. Well, we should attend to this issue. The same is true of economic issues. Economic capacities should be activated. This is the path to the progress of the country.
Leader's Speech in Meeting with People from Ilam Province; May 14, 2014.
Engage in dua (supplications) and midnight prayers and do whatever spiritual deed you can.
Do not take your enlightened and immaculate hearts for granted. I am not saying these things to compliment you. No, you are not the only youth in the world and what I am saying is true of all youth throughout the world. Your hearts are pure. You cannot feel this because you have no frame of reference for comparison. Problems and impurities smear the heart over time. There is a narration which says when people commit a sin, a dark spot appears in their hearts and when they commit another sin, the dark spot grows bigger. Of course, the language is figurative. The more sins you commit, the more dark spots will appear in your heart and after a while your heart will grow completely dark. In ordinary language, this is exactly what I explained earlier. That is to say, currently your heart and soul are pure, but over time sins and the numerous problems that people are faced with throughout their life - in politics, in economic areas, in earning a living - make the heart completely dark if one has no practice in confronting these problems. This is my first point. I consider you as my own children. If I wanted to give my own children the best pieces of advice, I would tell them exactly what I told you.
Leader’s Speech to Students; Aug 22, 2010.