Surely, the believers, no matter how qualified they may be,
whether as teachers or administrators, and however high their intellectual and
spiritual merits, should never be looked upon as the standard whereby to
evaluate and measure the divine authority and mission of the Faith. It is to
the Teachings themselves, and to the lives of the Founders of the Cause that
the believers should look for their guidance and inspiration, and only by
keeping strictly to such a true attitude can they hope to establish their
loyalty to Bahá'u'lláh upon an enduring and unassailable basis.
- Shoghi Effendi (From
a letter dated 23 August 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. III, Issues
Concerning Community Functioning)
