His highness Christ, has addressed the world, saying: "Be like unto children." That is, men must become pure in heart. The hearts of children are of the utmost purity. But this is on account of weakness, not on account of strength. In the early period of childhood the hearts are pure; they have no hypocrisy nor stratagem and they cannot display any great intelligence.
But man becomes pure through the power of strength, through the power of intelligence and understanding. He becomes simple through the great power of reason. He becomes sincere through the power of intelligence not through the power of weakness. When man attains to the great state of perfection his heart becomes pure, his spirit becomes enlightened, his soul becomes tender and receives these qualities through great strength. This is the difference between the perfect man and the child. Both have the great, simple, underlying qualities. But the child through the power of weakness and the man through the power of strength.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of Abdul-Baha; Star of the West, Vol. 3, No. 3)