Excellence In All Things (`Abdu'l-Baha: Excellence in All Things, Pages: 372) ...they should exemplify in every aspect of their lives those attributes and virtues that are born of God and should arise to distinguish themselves by their goodly behaviour. They should justify their claim to be Baha'is by deeds and not by name. He is a true Baha'i who strives by day and by night to progress and advance along the path of human endeavor, whose most cherished desire is so to live and act as to enrich and illuminate the world, whose source of inspiration is the essence of Divine virtue, whose aim in life is so to conduct himself as to be the cause of infinite progress. Only when he attains unto such perfect gifts can it be said of him that he is a true Baha'i. For in this holy Dispensation, the crowning glory of bygone ages and cycles, true Faith is no mere acknowledgement of the Unity of God, but rather the living of a life that will manifest all the perfections and virtues implied in such belief....
("Baha'i Year Book" ["The Baha'i World"], vol. 1 (New York: Baha'i Publishing Committee, 1926, p. 12)O ye friends of God! Show ye an endeavor that all the nations and communities of the world, even the enemies, put their trust, assurance and hope in you; that if a person falls into errors for a hundred-thousand times he may yet turn his face to you, hopeful that you will forgive his sins; for he must not become hopeless, neither grieved nor despondent. This is the conduct and the manner of the people of Baha'. This is the foundation of the most high pathway! Ye should conform your conduct and manners with the advices of Abdul-Baha.
("Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas", vol. 2, p. 436)Then know thou that, verily, the people of Baha' must needs be distinguished from others in all respects, until they become the lamps of the True One among the creatures and the stars of guidance shining from the Supreme Concourse. ("Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas", vol. 3 (Chicago: Baha'i Publishing Society, 1916), p. 682)