… the forms and organisms of phenomenal being and existence
in each of the kingdoms of the universe are myriad and numberless. The
vegetable plane or kingdom, for instance, has its infinite variety of types and material structures of plant life -- each
distinct and different within itself, no
two exactly alike in composition and
detail -- for there are no repetitions in nature, and the augmentative virtue
cannot be confined to any given image or shape. Each leaf has its own particular
identity -- so to speak, its own individuality as a leaf...
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from
a talk, 27 August 1912, Boston, Massachusetts, ‘The Promulgation of Universal
Peace; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Conservation of the Earth's
Resources)
