Mrs. Tatum said, `I feel so dejected
today. I am unhappy with myself.' The Master replied:
This is a sign of progress. The person
who is satisfied with himself is the manifestation of Satan and the one who is
not satisfied is the manifestation of the Merciful One. An egotist does not
progress but the one who thinks himself imperfect will seek perfection for
himself and will progress. If a man has a thousand good qualities, he must not
look at them. He must search always for his shortcomings.
For example, if a man has a building
which is well-constructed and fully decorated but which has a small crack in
one of its walls, he will, no doubt, forget the rest and turn his whole
attention to repairing that crack. Furthermore, the attainment of absolute
perfection for a human being is impossible; thus, however much he may progress
he is still imperfect and has above him a point higher than himself. And the
instant he sees this point he will not be satisfied with himself. It is for
this reason that when someone called Christ `Good Master', He replied that
there is only One who is good and that is God.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a conversation, August 21, 1912, Green
Acre, USA; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
