Baha I Quotes

In places where women have achieved gender equality, for instance, men tend to be happier than women. And in places where women are still not treated equally, women are often happier than men. Other studies have shown that, despite the popular belief that nobody wants to get older, most people actually get happier after a certain age. ~ Dan Buettner

Arts crafts and sciences uplift the world of being and are conducive to its exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man's life and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. ~ Bahaullah

Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves. You will never become angry or impatient if you love them for the sake of God. Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God, you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy. Therefore, do not look at the shortcomings of anybody; see with the sight of forgiveness. The imperfect eye beholds imperfections. The eye that covers faults looks toward the Creator of souls. He created them, trains and provides for them, endows them with capacity and life, sight and hearing; therefore, they are the signs of His grandeur. You must love and be kind to everybody, care for the poor, protect the weak, heal the sick, teach and educate the ignorant. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

I'm about as big a star as the Baha'i faith has got, which is pretty pathetic. ~ Rainn Wilson

Let not your heart be sad, and do not let trouble take possession of you - for you have attained unto that which will be of eternal and everlasting benefit to you throughout eternity! You have understood the Truth of God and have turned unto His Holy Covenant - severing yourself from all save His love. ~ Violette Nakhjavani

Little minds instinctively seek to circumscribe the things around them, to pull in the walls to the size of their own small existence, to get everything squared off to their own scale so they can feel safe and snug. This process invariably means that a lot of the material used in their walls is from the last house they lived in, is very much what they were accustomed to before they moved, so to speak. Big minds, on the contrary, push the horizons further away, create new frontiers, leave room for growth. ~ Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum

Be calm, be strong, be grateful, and become a lamp full of light, that the darkness of sorrows be annihilated, and that the sun of everlasting joy arise from the dawning-place of heart and soul, shining brightly. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

To oppose knowledge is ignorant, and he who detests knowledge and science is not a man, but rather an animal without intelligence. For knowledge is light, life, felicity, perfection, beauty and the means of approaching the Threshold of Unity. It is the honor and glory of the world of humanity, and the greatest bounty of God. Knowledge is identical with guidance, and ignorance is real error ~ Abdu'l- Baha

All down the ages we see how blood has stained the surface of the earth; but now a ray of greater light has come, man's intelligence is greater, spirituality is beginning to grow, and a time is surely coming when the religions of the world will be at peace ... let us join together to hasten forward the Divine Cause of unity, until all humanity knows itself to be one family, joined together in love. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

My hope is that the white and the black will be united in perfect love and fellowship, with complete unity and brotherhood. Associate with each other, think of each other, and be like a rose garden. Anyone who goes into a rose garden will see various roses, white, pink, yellow, red, all growing together and replete with adornment. Each one accentuates the beauty of the other. Were all of one color, the garden would be monotonous to the eye. If they were all white or yellow or red, the garden would lack variety and attractiveness; but when the colors are varied, white, pink, yellow, red, there will be the greatest beauty. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

There is but one power which heals - that is God. The state or condition through which the healing takes place is the confidence of the heart. By some this state is reached through pills, powders, and physicians. By others through hygiene, fasting, and prayer. By others through direct perception. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Religion should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the earth; it should give birth to spirituality, and bring light and life to every soul. If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division, it would be better to be without it ... Any religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Joy gives us wings! In times of joy our strength is more vital, our intellect keener, and our understanding less clouded. We seem better able to cope with the world and to find our sphere of influence. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Observe that the body of man is confined to a small place; it covers only two spans of earth. But the spirit and mind of man travel to all countries and regions - even through the limitless space of the heavens - surround all that exists, and make discoveries in the exalted spheres and infinite distances. This is because the spirit has no place; it is placeless; and for the spirit the earth and the heaven are as one since it makes discoveries in both. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Christ is ever in the world of existence. He has never disappeared out of it ... Rest assured that Christ is present. The Spiritual beauty we see around us today is from the breathings of Christ. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Man is not intended to see through the eyes of another, hear through another's ears nor comprehend with another's brain. Each human creature has individual endowment, power and responsibility in the creative plan of God. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

When a man turns his face to God he finds sunshine everywhere. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Fighting, and the employment of force, even for the right cause, will not bring about good results. The oppressed who have right on their side, must not take that right by force; the evil would continue. Hearts must be changed. The rich must wish to give! Life in man should be like a flame, warming all with whom it comes into contact. The spiritually awakened are like to bright torches in the sight of God, they give light and comfort to their fellows. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting - force is losing its weight and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine, and more permeated with the feminine ideals - or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

All Art is a gift of the Holy Spirit. When this light shines through the mind of a musician, it manifests itself in beautiful harmonies. Again, shining through the mind of a poet, it is seen in fine poetry and poetic prose. When the Light of the Sun of Truth inspires the mind of a painter, he produces marvellous pictures. These gifts are fulfilling their highest purpose, when showing forth the praise of God. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The most important principle of divine philosophy is the oneness of the world of humanity, the unity of mankind, the bond conjoining East and West, the tie of love which blends human hearts. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The wisdom of the appearance of the spirit in the body is this: the human spirit is a Divine Trust, and it must traverse all conditions, for its passage and movement through the conditions of existence will be the means of its acquiring perfections. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Anyone can live contentedly in circumstances of ease and comfort, health and well-being gratification and felicity; but to remain happy and contented in the face of difficulty, hardship and the onslaught of disease and sickness-this is an indication of nobility. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

If some one commits an error and wrong toward you, you must instantly forgive him. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The human spirit may be likened to the bounty of the sun shining on a mirror. The body of man, ... grows and develops through the animal spirit. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

We declare that love is the cause of the existence of all phenomena and that the absence of love is the cause of disintegration or non-existence. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The spirit does not need a body, but the body needs spirit, or it cannot live. The soul can live without a body, but the body without a soul dies ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Prejudices of any kind are the destroyers of human happiness & welfare. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The education and training of children is among the most meritorious acts of humankind and draweth down the grace and favour of the All-Merciful, for education is the indispensable foundation of all human excellence and alloweth man to work his way to the heights of abiding glory. If a child be trained from his infancy, he will, through the loving care of the Holy Gardener, drink in the crystal waters of the spirit and of knowledge, like a young tree amid the rilling brooks. And certainly he will gather to himself the bright rays of the Sun of Truth, and through its light and heat will grow ever fresh and fair in the garden of life. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Help along one another's projects and plans. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

A thought of #hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of #love ~ Abdu'l- Baha

One must see in every human being only that which is worthy
of praise. When this is done, one can be a friend to the whole human
race. If, however, we look at people from the standpoint of their
faults, then being a friend to them is a formidable task ...
... Thus is it incumbent upon us, when we direct our gaze toward
other people, to see where they excel, not where they fail.
~ Abdu'l- Baha

Until the reality of equality between man and woman is fully established and attained, the highest social development of mankind is not possible. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Close investigation will show that the primary cause of oppression and injustice, of unrighteousness, irregularity and disorder, is the people's lack of religious faith and the fact that they are uneducated. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Love gives life to the lifeless. Love lights a flame in the heart that is cold. Love brings hope to the hopeless and gladdens the hearts of the sorrowful. In the world of existence there is indeed no greater power than the power of love ~ Abdu'l- Baha

Man is in reality a spiritual being and only when he lives in the spirit is he truly happy. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The confirmations of the Spirit are all those powers and gifts which some are born with (and which men sometimes call genius), but for which others have to strive with infinite pains. They come to that man or woman who accepts his life with radiant acquiescence. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The intellect is good but until it has become the servant of the heart, it is of little avail. ~ Abdu'l- Baha

The home of Religion is the heart. ~ Abdu'l- Baha