And among the teachings of His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh is man's freedom, that through the ideal power he should be free and emancipated from the captivity of the world of nature; for as long as man is captive to nature he is a ferocious animal, as the struggle for existence is one of the exigencies of the world of nature. This matter of the struggle for existence is the fountain-head of all calamities and is the supreme affliction.
- Abdu'l-Baha ('Tablet to the Hague')
