…you should put forward your most earnest efforts toward the
acquisition of science and arts. The greater your attainment, the higher your
standard in the divine purpose. The man of science is perceiving and endowed
with vision, whereas he who is ignorant and neglectful of this development is
blind. The investigating mind is attentive, alive; the callous and indifferent
mind is deaf and dead. A scientific man is a true index and representative of
humanity, for through processes of inductive reasoning and research he is
informed of all that appertains to humanity, its status, conditions and
happenings. He studies the human body politic, understands social problems and
weaves the web and texture of civilization. In fact, science may be likened to
a mirror wherein the infinite forms and images of existing things are revealed
and reflected. It is the very foundation of all individual and national
development. Without this basis of investigation, development is impossible.
Therefore, seek with diligent endeavour the knowledge and attainment of all
that lies within the power of this wonderful bestowal.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a
talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’; The Compilation of
Compilations, vol. III, Scholarship)
