“Speech is a powerful phenomenon. Its freedom is both to be extolled and feared. It calls for an acute exercise of judgement, since both the limitation of speech and the excess of it can lead to dire consequences…content, volume, style, tact, wisdom, timeliness are among the critical factors in determining the effects of speech for good or evil. Consequently, the friends need ever to be conscious of the significance of this activity which so distinguishes human beings from other forms of life, and they must exercise it judiciously. Their efforts at such discipline will give birth to an etiquette of expression worthy of the approaching maturity of the human race. Just as this discipline applies to the spoken word, it applied equally to the written word. “

Universal House of Justice (via victoriaeyton)

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle & the life of the candle will not be shortened - happiness never decreases from being shared” #AltruisticFlame

Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.

Imam Ali ibn abi Talib (a.s)

‎Be thou hopeful and be thou happy and rejoiced. For I have supplicated and beseeched before the Threshold of the Almighty that thy wish may be realized, so thou mayest overcome the self and perform charitable deeds and that human perfections may appear from thee; that thou mayest be endowed with lofty gifts; find thy way to divine wisdom and show forth the manners and conduct of those who are favored in the Threshold of the Almighty.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá (via victoriaeyton)

Love manifests its reality in deeds, not only in words—these alone are without effect. In order that love may manifest its power there must be an object, an instrument, a motive…The perfect love needs an unselfish instrument, absolutely freed from fetters of every kind.

‘Abdu’l-Baha (via victoriaeyton)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

Psalm 147:3-13, The Bible

Tests are benefits from God, for which we should thank Him. Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance, they are sent to us by the Divine Mercy for our own perfecting.

‘Abdu’l-Baha (via victoriaeyton)

‘The house of the heart is lit by the light of unswerving constancy, and the soul’s lodging is bedecked with the ornament of faithfulness.’

Bahiyyih Khanum

Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound, purpose larger than the self kind of understanding.

Bill Bullard 

Concern for others gives you courage. When you are solely concerned with ‘I,’ this naturally leads to fear and anxiety, resulting in even more insecurity, making the body imbalanced and riddled with health problems. However, deep within altruism lies courage, which diminishes fear and bestows relaxation, which in turn has beneficial effects on blood pressure and overall well-being.

The Dalai Lama 

"...Give me Thy grace to serve Thy loved ones, strengthen me in my servitude to Thee..."

~ Abdul Baha

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are.

Bertolt Brecht

The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into practice. If actions took the place of words, the world’s misery would very soon be changed into comfort.

Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks (via whererainbowsendx)