... the friends have been required to be righteous,
well-wishing, forbearing, sanctified, pure, detached from all else save God,
severed from the trappings of this world and adorned with the mantle of a
goodly character and godly attributes.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 19
December 1923 to the Baha'is of the East [translated from the Persian]; quoted in
an open letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran
about the Banning of the Baha'i Administration; included in Messages from the
Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)
