Consider: We plant a seed. A complete and perfect tree
appears from it, and from each seed of this tree another tree can be produced.
Therefore, the part is expressive of the whole, for this seed was a part of the
tree, but therein potentially was the whole tree. So each one of us may become
expressive or representative of all the bounties of life to mankind. This is
the unity of the world of humanity. This is the bestowal of God. This is the
felicity of the human world, and this is the manifestation of the divine favor.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, New York, 14 April 1912; ‘The Promulgation of
Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United
States and Canada in 1912’)
