Hatred is an emotion often mistaken for strength. It burns hot, fuels action, and gives a false sense of power. But beneath its surface, hatred does not reveal the strength of the one who holds it, it exposes their weakness.

A person who hates is a person who has been conquered. Conquered by pain, by resentment, by the inability to rise above what has wounded them. Hatred is never born in a place of power; it grows where control has been lost. It is the loudest scream of a heart that has been shaken, a mind that has been unsettled, and a soul that has been poisoned.

Hatred often disguises itself as righteousness, as justice, as a battle worth fighting. It tells you that you are standing against something, but in reality, you are trapped by it. The more you hate, the more your enemy owns you. You think you are fighting, but in truth, you are only reacting. A person in control does not act based on hatred, they act based on wisdom.

There is a reason the wisest and strongest figures in history did not let hatred consume them. Nelson Mandela walked free not only from a prison but from bitterness. Martin Luther King Jr. led a revolution not with anger, but with purpose. Hatred weakens, distracts, and blinds. It turns you into a prisoner of your own emotions, while those who have wronged you move on, unbothered.

To measure your strength, do not count your victories over others, count the battles you have won within yourself. The strongest person is not the one who hates back, but the one who refuses to be shaped by hatred at all. They choose their actions with clarity, not with bitterness. They know that the true mark of power is the ability to rise above, to move forward, to control one’s emotions rather than be controlled by them.

Hatred is a chain. Strength is breaking free from it.

So, if you ever want to know how weak or strong you are, do not look at what you have conquered look at what still has power over you.