... the World Civilization which will follow upon the Most Great Peace will unfold and evolve and gradually perfect itself during following Dispensations; in other words, a World Civilization and a World Culture, which will reach its ascendancy in the distant future and is something that will require many thousands of years to mature. (23 April 1954, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Cultural Diversity in the Age of Maturity)
