Quotes

„Somewhere about 1893 I started teaching Scouting to young soldiers in my regiment. When these young fellows joined the Army they had learned reading, writing, and arithmetic in school but as a rule not much else. They were nice lads and made very good parade soldiers, obeyed orders, kept themselves clean and smart and all that, but they had never been taught to be men, how to look after themselves, how to take responsibility, and so on. They had not had my chances of education outside the classroom.They had been brought up in the herd at school, they were trained as a herd in the Army; they simply did as they were told and had no ideas or initiative of their own. In action they carried out orders, but if their officer was shot they were as helpless as a flock of sheep. Tell one of them to ride out alone with a message on a dark night and ten to one he would lose his way.I wanted to make them feel that they were a match for any enemy, able to find their way by the stars or map, accustomed to notice all tracks and signs and to read their meaning, and able to fend for themselves away from regimental cooks and barracks.“
„Scouting is not an abstruse or difficult science: rather it is a jolly game if you take it in the right light. In the same time it is educative, and (like Mercy) it is apt to benefit him that giveth as well as him that receives.“
„O God, help me to win, but in thy wisdom if thou willest me not to win, then O God, make me a good loser.“
„If a man cannot make his point to keen boys in ten minutes, he ought to be shot!“
„A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room.“
„It is the Patrol System that makes the Troop, and all Scouting for that matter, a real co-operative matter.“
„Happiness is not mere pleasure, not the outcome of wealth. It is the result of active work rather than passive enjoyment of pleasure.“
„The Scoutmaster teaches boys to play the game by doing so himself.“
„No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way.“
„I have gone home (or “Going home”) — the Boy Scout trail sign “☉” on his tombstone in a tiny cemetery of Nyeri, Kenya.“
„The Scoutmaster guides the boy in the spirit of an older brother…. He has simply to be a boy-man, that is: (1) He must have the boy spirit in him: and must be able to place himself in the right plane with his boys as a first step. (2) He must realise the needs, outlooks and desires of the different ages of boy life. (3) He must deal with the individual boy rather than with the mass. (4) He then needs to promote a corporate spirit among his individuals to gain the best results.“
„I went and saw a lot of them at their daily practice of fencing with bamboo sticks and practicing jiu-jitsu to make themselves strong and active and good-tempered. I say good-tempered because it is very much like boxing; you have to take a good many hard knocks and take them smiling. If a fellow lost his temper at it, everybody would laugh at him and think him a fool. In jiu-jitsu they learn how to exercise and how to develop their muscles, how to catch hold of an enemy in many different ways so as to overpower him, how to throw him and, what is very important, how to fall easily if they get thrown themselves. I expect the Scouts of Japan, if they visit England later on, will be able to show us a thing or two in this line.“
„Boy Scout is not merely to give you fun and adventure but that, like the backwoodsmen, explorers, and frontiersmen whom you are following, you will be fitting yourself to help your country and to be of service to other people who may be in need of help. That is what the best men are out to do.“
„Here is the hatchet of war, of enmity, of bad feeling, which I now bury in Arrowe,” said the Chief, at the same time plunging a hatchet in the midst of a barrel of golden arrows.””From all corners of the earth,” said the Chief as soon as the cheering had subsided “you have journeyed to this great gathering of World Fellowship and Brotherhood. Today I send you out from Arrowe to all the World, bearing my symbol of Peace and Fellowship, each one of you my ambassador bearing my message of Love and Fellowship on the wings of Sacrifice and Service, to the end of the Earth. From now on the Scout symbol of Peace is the Golden Arrow. Carry it fast and far so that all men may know the Brotherhood of Man.””To THE NORTH—From the Northlands you came at the call of my horn to this great gathering of Fellowship and Brotherhood.””Today I send you back to your homelands across the great North Seas as my Ambassadors of Peace and Fellowship among the Nations of the World.””I bid you farewell.””TO THE SOUTH—From the Southland you came at the call of my horn to this great gathering of Fellowship and Brotherhood.””Today I send you back to your homes under the Southern Cross as my Ambassadors of Peace and Fellowship among the Nations of the World.””I bid you farewell.””TO THE WEST—From the Westlands you came at the call of my horn to this great gathering of Fellowship and Brotherhood.””Today I send you back to your homes in the Great Westlands to the Pacific and beyond as my Ambassadors of Peace and Fellowship among the Nations of the World.””I bid you farewell.””TO THE EAST—From the Eastlands you came at the call of my horn to this great gathering of Fellowship and Brotherhood.””Today I send you back to your homes under the Starry Skies and Burning Suns to your people of the thousand years, bearing my symbol of Peace and Fellowship to the Nations of the Earth, pledging you to keep my trust.“
„Leave this world a little better than you found it.“
„The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.“
„The secret of sound education is to get each pupil to learn for himself, instead of instructing him by driving knowledge into him on a stereotyped system.“
„If it were not for the depressing heat and the urgency of the work, one could sit down and laugh to tears at the absurdity of the thing, and under the circumstances it is a little wearing. But our motto is the old west coast proverb,; in other words, don’t flurry; patience gains the day.“
„we aim for the practice of Christianity in their everyday life and dealings, and not merely the profession of its theology on Sundays.“
„If you have ever seen the play Peter Pan you will remember how the pirate chief was always making his dying speech because he was afraid that possibly when the time came for him to die he might not have time to get it off his chest. It is much the same with me, and so, although I am not at this moment dying, I shall be doing so one of these days and I want to send you a parting word of goodbye.Remember, it is the last you will ever hear from me, so think it over.I have had a most happy life and I want each one of you to have as happy a life too.I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life. Happiness doesn’t come from being rich, nor merely from being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy, so that you can be useful and so can enjoy life when you are a man.Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one.But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn come to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best. “Be Prepared” in this way, to live happy and to die happy – stick to your Scout promise always – even after you have ceased to be a boy – and God help you do it.“