“one spark will set the whole of Europe aflame”

The European continent is like an arsenal, a storehouse of explosives ready for ignition, and one spark will set the whole of Europe aflame, particularly at this time when the Balkan question is before the world. 

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (Remarks made in Sacramento, California, October 26, 1912; ‘Baha’u’llah and the New Era’, by John Esselmont)

Battle of Armageddon

We are on the eve of the Battle of Armageddon referred to in the sixteenth chapter of Revelation. The time is two years hence, when only a spark will set aflame the whole of Europe.

The social unrest in all countries, the growing religious skepticism antecedent to the millennium, and already here, will set aflame the whole of Europe as is prophesied in the Book of Daniel and in the Book (Revelation) of John.

By 1917 kingdoms will fall and cataclysms will rock the earth. 

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, California, 1912; reported by Mrs. Corinne True in The North Shore Review, September 26, 1914, Chicago, U.S.A.; included in ‘Baha’u’llah and the New Era’, by John Esselmont)

The “object of life to a Baha'i is to promote the oneness of mankind”

The object of life to a Baha'i is to promote the oneness of mankind; Our aim is to produce a world civilization which in turn will react on the character of the individual.

- Shoghi Effendi (Remarks by Shoghi Effendi, recorded by Ruhiyyih Khanum, ‘The Priceless Pearl’)

Ruhiyyih Khanum:

I remember in the  course of a conversation Shoghi Effendi had with a former teacher  of his at the American University in Beirut, how beautifully he  answered this man's question as to what was the purpose of life to a Bahá'í. The Guardian answered that the object of life to a Bahá'í was to promote the oneness of mankind. He then went on to point out that Bahá'u'lláh had appeared at a time when His Message could and should be directed to the whole world and not merely to individuals; that salvation today was through world salvation, world change, world reform of society and that the world civilization resulting from this would in turn reflect upon the individuals composing it and lead to their redemption and reformation.

Over and over Shoghi Effendi made it clear in his writings and talks that the two processes must go on together -- reform of society, reform of personal character. There was never any doubt that individual regeneration, as he wrote to a non-Bahá'í in 1926, was the "sure and enduring foundation on which a reconstructed society" would develop and prosper. But how could one create a pattern for future  society, even a tiny embryo of the future World Commonwealth of Bahá'u'lláh, if all around its fringes it was still interwoven with the fabric of that society which was dying out, must die out, to make way for the new?   

- Ruhiyyih Khanum  (‘The Guardian of the Baha'i Faith’)  

Heroic spirit

You cannot be a hero without action. This is the touchstone. Not movement, coming and going, but in the evidences of your character. Jacky [Marion Jack] is a heroine because of her conduct, the heroic spirit reveals itself in her. Martha [Martha Root] had the heroic action. She went 'til she dropped. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Remarks by Shoghi Effendi, recorded by Ruhiyyih Khanum, ‘The Priceless Pearl’)

What qualities must one gain through tests to be considered a “chosen one” or “first fruit”?

In this day everyone must be tested, as the time of the ''chosen ones" to prove their worth is indeed very short. The day of attainment is drawing to a close for them. The "first fruits" must be ripened in spirit, mellowed in love, and consumed by their self-sacrifice and severance. None other are acceptable as first fruits, and all who fail to attain to the standard through the tests, are relegated to the "many who are called." 

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (Words of ‘Abdu'l-Baha in answer to questions asked by Dr. Edward C. Getsinger during a few brief meetings at Haifa, January 26 to February 5, 1915, and recorded by Dr. Getsinger at the time; Star of the West, vol. 6, no. 6, June 24, 1915)