If anyone finds anything in this universe about which to complain, if he criticizes its defects and deficiencies, its evils and imperfections, let him remember that a universe which is perfect in the sense that he means does not and could not exist. Only God is perfect. Anything else, even any universe, being distinct from God, cannot also be perfect. Consequently it will display tendencies and situations open to human criticism. Even though a universe is a manifestation of God, it cannot become as perfect as God without becoming God--when it would itself vanish. Nevertheless its divine origin and sustenance are revealed in the fact that all things and all beings in it strive for perfection even if they never attain it. This is what evolution means and this is the secret spring behind it. For in seeking to return to their source, they are compelled to seek its perfection too. That is, they are compelled to evolve from lower to higher states and forms, from evil conditions and characteristics to ideal ones.
-- Notebooks Category 26: World-Idea > Chapter 4 : True Idea of Man > # 261
