“The best person is he who wins all hearts and is not the cause of grief to anyone.”

I hope that you will be under the protection of God, will succeed in rendering service to humanity and will always be a source of happiness to every heart. The best person is he who wins all hearts and is not the cause of grief to anyone. The worst of souls is he who causes hearts to be agitated and who becomes the cause of sadness. Always endeavor to make people happy and their hearts joyful so that you may become the cause of guidance to mankind. Proclaim the Word of God and diffuse the divine fragrances. (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Denver, Colorado, September 26, 1912; Mahmud’s Diary)

The secret to maintaining one’s spiritual progress

I ask the Blessed Beauty to assist you and confirm you. Wherever I go, you will be in my thoughts. I shall not forget any one of you. I beg of God that you may become more enlightened, more severed, more spiritual, more aflame and that you may be humble and submissive, for as long as man does not consider himself to be good but regards himself as weak and deficient, he progresses; but the moment he considers himself good and says, `I am perfect', he falls into pride and retrogresses. (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha when leaving Chicago, September 17, 1912, ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)