Can someone please explain to me how this is a rationality quote? (not sarcastic)
Seems to be along the lines of encouraging proactive agency. (Actively taking actions to optimise the world according to his preferences.) An instrumental rationality lesson.
(There are also less positive messages embedded there, which are a mix of anti-epistemology and dark arts, but I assume Malik is intending the instrumental message.)
It seems to me personally like the much more rational quote would be "He who is firm in will molds himself to the world."
Here's another installment of rationality quotes. The usual rules apply: