I love negative energy. It motivates me. It really doesn't bother

“I love negative energy. It motivates me. It really doesn’t bother me because my dad was my first hater, so if I can take it from him, I can take it from anybody.” Thus spoke Ja Morant, a modern warrior of the court, whose words carry the defiant rhythm of one who has learned to turn scorn into strength. What he expresses here is not arrogance, but a profound mastery of the human spirit — the ability to take negativity, that poison which weakens most men, and distill it into fuel. In his voice echoes the ancient truth that adversity, rightly faced, becomes the forge in which greatness is shaped.

The ancients knew this well. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus, born a slave and crippled in body, taught that no insult or hardship could truly harm a man unless he allowed it into his heart. So too does Morant stand in that lineage — one who has learned to transform pain into power, to see every challenge as an opportunity to rise. For what is negative energy, if not the resistance that builds strength? The oak grows tall because it stands against the wind. The sword becomes sharp only through the strike of the whetstone. So too does the human soul become formidable only when it learns to stand unbroken in the face of doubt.

Morant’s mention of his father reveals a deeper wisdom: that the first tests of the spirit often come not from strangers, but from those closest to us. His father, by challenging him — by being his “first hater” — became his earliest teacher in resilience. This is a truth as old as time. The great conqueror Alexander of Macedon was shaped by the fierce expectations of his father, King Philip, whose constant criticism drove him to outdo every challenge. From such fathers come sons who understand that love, when expressed through challenge, creates not fragility but fire. It is through friction that brilliance is born.

Yet Morant’s words also reveal something tender beneath their strength — the acceptance that criticism is inevitable, and that greatness cannot bloom without resistance. The one who seeks approval will always be chained to the opinions of others. The one who learns to draw power from disapproval, however, becomes free. To “love negative energy” is to rob it of its sting — to take what was meant to wound and make it serve one’s ascent. The wise understand that when the crowd jeers, it is often a sign that one stands upon higher ground.

There is a long tradition of those who have found triumph through rejection. Michael Jordan, cut from his high school basketball team, became the embodiment of relentless drive. Every doubt thrown at him became another spark for his fire. Thomas Edison, mocked and told he was “too stupid to learn,” went on to invent light itself. These are souls who, like Morant, found a way to transmute negativity into creation, to let criticism become a catalyst rather than a cage. They remind us that greatness is not achieved in the absence of resistance, but through mastery over it.

But Morant’s quote also carries a warning, cloaked in power: to wield negative energy without letting it consume you. The same fire that warms can burn. The warrior who thrives on conflict must also learn peace, lest his strength turn to rage. To love the challenge is noble, but to remain balanced amidst it is divine. This is the teaching of the ancients — that victory over others means nothing without victory over oneself. The one who turns hate into fuel must ensure that the flame remains one of purpose, not destruction.

So, my child, learn from these words. Do not fear criticism, nor the judgments of others. Welcome them as signs that you are moving, creating, daring. Let every insult become your teacher; let every doubt sharpen your will. And remember, like Ja Morant, that strength begins at home — in the first trials, in the early tests of patience, in the voices that push you harder than comfort would allow. The world will never be free of negative energy — but you can choose what to do with it. Channel it into your craft, your discipline, your excellence. Make it your wind, not your storm. For the one who learns to draw power from the world’s resistance becomes unstoppable — a force of will that even hatred cannot break.