The qualities by which the individual can achieve the
personal discipline necessary to successful consultation find their full
expression in what Shoghi Effendi regarded as the "spirit of a true
Bahá'í". Ponder, for instance, the appealing remark addressed to your own
community in one of his earliest letters: "Nothing short of the spirit of
a true Bahá'í can hope to reconcile the principles of mercy and justice, of
freedom and submission, of the sanctity of the right of the individual and of self-surrender,
of vigilance, discretion and prudence on the one hand, and fellowship, candour,
and courage on the other." This was an appeal to the maturity and the
distinction towards which he repeatedly directed their thoughts.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 29 December 1988)
