Hamza Yusuf Quotes

The trick is to learn to contain one's ego, not conceal it.

That's the most beautiful thing that I like about boxing: you can take a punch. The biggest thing about taking a punch is your ego reacts and there's no better spiritual lesson than trying to not pay attention to your ego's reaction. That's what takes people out of the fight half the time.

Character isn't inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts, thought by thought, action by action. If one lets fear or hate or anger take possession of the mind, they become self-forged chains.

Resolution is struggle. Resolution is ego. Resolution is saying, "I cannot live spontaneously. ".

Emotional self-control is the result of hard work, not an inherent skill.

You have to fight the green monster with your mind, not your fists.

I practice martial arts not to win over other people but to win over my own heart.

The ego is there, but I'm learning to channel it.

The literature of the inner life is very largely a record of struggle with the inordinate passions of the social self.

Men need knowledge in order to overpower their passions and master their prejudices.

You struggle with your demons and you conquer them.

You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.

I learned that having great sensitivity is important. But being strong is just as important.

It takes so much strength to say to your ego, 'You know what? You're going to keep me lonely, so I have to ignore you.'

I don't put much pressure on myself, because I'm strong mentally.

I know how strong I am mentally, how I work on myself.

On those days when you don't want to get up, I think, I'm going to get through my entire practice without saying how tired I am or I try not to complain just because I was in a bad mood when I woke up. Even if it's not perfect and I slip up, I can catch myself and make myself of aware of where my mental space is at and move on.

I've been learning a lot in my years, it's not just the fight itself, its a lot mentally fighting each other, that's something I learned later days. I realize now it's very important.

Do not forget: seek to win all your battles, including those you fight against yourself. Do not fear the scars. Do not be afraid of victory.

When we are foolish, we want to conquer the world. When we are wise, we want to conquer ourselves. That begins when we do what we should no matter how we feel about it.

In beginning the world, if you don't wish to get chafed at every turn, fold up your pride carefully, put it under lock and key, and only let it out to air upon grand occasions. Pride is a garment all stiff brocade outside, all grating sackcloth on the side next to the skin.

It takes courage to realize that you are greater than your moods, greater than your thoughts, and that you can control your moods and thoughts.

If, in fact, it is what's inside us that makes all the difference, then the difference is made when we choose what goes inside.

Training and managing your own mind is the most important skill you could ever own, in terms of both happiness and success.

It is good and very grand to conquer external nature, but grander still to conquer our internal nature.... This conquering of the inner man, understanding the secrets of the subtle workings that are within the human mind, and knowing its wonderful secrets, belong entirely to religion.