Material affairs are of two kinds. The first kind are those concerns which have no direct relation to life. They contribute toward luxury, effeminacy, indolence. Indulgence in these things makes one negligent of God and stifles all traces of spirituality. The other kind are those affairs which contribute toward the maintenance of livelihood, adding to the comfort, happiness and progress of the human family. Spiritual powers come always to the assistance of such affairs, —they increase the moral insight and responsibility of man and add to his awareness and mindfulness.
-' Abdu'l-Baha (Words of Abdu’l-Baha; from the Diary of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, May 14, 1914; Star of the West, vol. 8, no. 2, April 9, 1917)