“Those who strive on the path of God become beautiful. Those who face difficulties on the path of God become beautiful. Those who do not face any difficulties become ugly, their meaning would be lost, they would become dull and blunt. I mean they would become coarse.”

“We see that all the enthusiasts about becoming a false Mahdi have gone upside down. That means striving for it would not make it happen, being an enthusiast would not make it happen: God is the One Who creates that person as the Mahdi.”

“Those who become drunk with power and have enriched themselves unlawfully while serving, will continue the same path, while they remain in power.”

“Those who take bold steps know what risks they face. It could mean difficulty, uncertainty, danger, pain and even death. But a coward chooses the opposite path, even though he knows that the path he takes is not without risk. Running will never solve the problem.”

“Those who take the virtuous path to becoming wise know that they can learn from anyone, and can draw lessons from all events.”

“It is becoming impossible for those who mix at all with their fellow-men to believe that the grace of God is distributed denominationally.”

“We are faced with the curiously appalling trend of modern thought, in which the absolute which was once a means of entering into communion with the divine, has now become an instrument used by those who profit from it, to distort, pervert, and conceal the meaning of the present.”

“It is curious that those who claim such firm knowledge about God’s nature and works become silent when asked about God’s methods.”

“By means of beauty all beautiful things become beautiful. For this appears to me the safest answer to give both to myself and others; and adhering to this, I think that I shall never fall, but that it is a safe answer both for me and any one else to give — that by means of beauty beautiful things become beautiful.”

“If Christianity were true religious persecution would become a pious and charitable duty: if God designs to punish men for their opinions it would be an act of mercy to mankind to extinguish such opinions. By burning the bodies of those who diffuse them many souls would be saved that would otherwise be lost, and so there would be an economy of torment in the long run. It is therefore not surprising that enthusiasts should be intolerant.”