He cannot urge upon you all sufficiently, and through you
the believers, the importance of Bahá'ís realizing that direct, concentrated,
and efficiently carried out Bahá'í work is not only their supreme duty but the
best way they can serve the interests of humanity and hasten the day when at
least the Lesser Peace will become a reality. We must always bear in mind that
Bahá'u'lláh's Order is the sovereign remedy, and all other measures,
inaugurated by the United Nations or various governments, are in the nature of
palliatives, however sound and progressive they may be. We must concentrate on
perfecting our characters as individual Bahá'ís and on maturing our still
embryonic, and as yet imperfectly understood, World Order; on spreading the
Message, according to the provisions of the Divine Plan; and on building a
tightly-knit, world-wide Bahá'í community. We are relatively few in numbers,
and have such a precious, unique, and responsible task to carry out, we must
concentrate our full forces upon it.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi
Effendi, Baha’i News 197, July, 1947; ‘Principles of Bahai Administration’)
