“When your heart is filled with the love of God there will be no room for sorrow.”

He [‘Abdu’l-Baha] asked me about myself, if I were well and if I were happy. I replied to thr latter question: “I have had many sorrows.” “Forget them!” he answered. “When your heart is filled with the love of God there will be no room for sorrow. There will only be love and happiness.” I can not tell you the sweet sympathy of his voice as he said these beautiful and comforting words. (Excerpt from 'An Interview with ‘Abdu’l-Baha', a letter written by an American visiting Palestine to her Baha’i friend in the States, Star of the West , vol. 1 no. 9, August 20, 1910)

Knowledge is secondary in importance to devotion

A humble man without learning, but filled with the Holy Spirit, is more powerful than the most nobly born, profound scholar without that inspiration. ('Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 156)

"Mental faculties are in truth of the inherent properties of the soul"

Mental faculties are in truth of the inherent properties of the soul, even as the radiation of light is the essential property of the sun. The rays of the sun are renewed but the sun itself is ever the same and unchanged. Consider how the human intellect develops and weakens, and may at times come to naught, whereas the soul changes not. For the mind to manifest itself, the human body must be whole; and a sound mind cannot be but in a sound body, whereas the soul depends not upon the body. It is through the power of the soul that the mind comprehends, imagines and exerts its influence, while the soul is a power that is free. The mind comprehends the abstract by the aid of the concrete, but the soul has limitless manifestations of its own. The mind is circumscribed, the soul limitless. It is by the aid of such senses as those of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch that the mind comprehends, whereas the soul is free from all agencies. The soul, as you observe, whether it be in sleep or waking, is in motion and ever active. Possibly it may, while in a dream, unravel an intricate problem, incapable of solution in the waking state. The mind, moreover, understands not while the senses have ceased to function, and in the embryonic stage and in early infancy the reasoning power is totally absent, whereas the soul is ever endowed with full strength. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, excerpts from a Tablet to Dr. August Forel, The Baha’i World, 1926-1928, p.64)

Our desire in life should be for spirituality and for union with God

Some of the people of the earth desire conquest over others: some of them are longing for rest and ease; others desire a high position; some desire to become famous: -- thank God our desire is for spirituality and for union with God. (‘Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 46)

Human beings are “the highest specialized organism of visible creation”

If we look with a perceiving eye upon the world of creation, we find that all existing things may be classified as follows: first, mineral -- that is to say, matter or substance appearing in various forms of composition; second, vegetable -- possessing the virtues of the mineral plus the power of augmentation or growth, indicating a degree higher and more specialized than the mineral; third, animal -- possessing the attributes of the mineral and vegetable plus the power of sense perception; fourth, human -- the highest specialized organism of visible creation, embodying the qualities of the mineral, vegetable and animal plus an ideal endowment absolutely absent in the lower kingdoms -- the power of intellectual investigation into the mysteries of outer phenomena. The outcome of this intellectual endowment is science, which is especially characteristic of man. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 29)

What is the Truth?

“‘Abdu’l-Baha was asked, ‘What is the truth’. He replied, ‘Truth is the Word of God, which gives life to humanity. It restores sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf; it makes eloquent those who are dumb, and living beings out of dead beings; it illuminates the world of the heart and soul; it reduces to nothingness the iniquities of the neglectful and erring ones. Beauty, perfection, brilliancy and spirituality of this existence come from or through the Word of God. For all it is the supreme goal, the greatest desire, the cause of life, light, instruction. The road to attain to this Truth is the Love of God. When the light of the Love of God is burning in the mirror of the heart, that flame shows the way and guides to the Kingdom of the Word of God.’

“’As to that which causes the growth of the love of God, know that it is to turn one's self toward God.’" (‘Abdu’l-Baha, quoted in the Introductory section of the book: The Baha’i Revelation, by Thornton Chase, 1909)