Robert Baden-Powell Quotes

“Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.”

“The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.”

“Be Prepared. The meaning of the motto is that a scout must prepare himself by previous thinking out and practising how to act on any accident or emergency so that he is never taken by surprise.”

“A Scout is never taken by surprise; he knows exactly what to do when anything unexpected happens.”

“A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances.”

“Life would pall if it were all sugar; salt is bitter if taken by itself; but when tasted as part of the dish, it savours the meat. Difficulties are the salt of life.”

“Happiness is within the reach of everyone, rich or poor. Yet comparatively few people are happy. I believe the reason for this is that the majority don't recognise happiness even when it is within their grasp.”

“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 you can enjoy life when you are a man.”

“I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life.”

“My belief is that we were put into this world of wonders and beauty with a special ability to appreciate them, to have the fun of taking a hand in developing them, and also in being able to help other people instead of overreaching them, and through it all, to enjoy life: that is, to be happy.”

“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.”

“We never fail when we try to do our duty, we always fail when we neglect to do it.”

“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.”

“The best workers, like the happiest livers, look upon their work as a kind of game: the harder they play the more enjoyable it becomes.”

“If you make yourself indispensable to your employer, he is not going to part with you in a hurry no matter what it costs him.”

“You may be rich, but there is one thing you can't afford, if you are a good sort: you can't afford to spend money on your own luxuries while there are people around you wanting the necessaries of life.”

“In assisting his "neighbour" every day to the best of his ability, and keeping truth, honesty, and kindness perpetually before him, the Boy Scout, with as little formality as possible, is pleasing God.”

“If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.”

“The most successful detectives owe their success to noticing small signs. Scouts are natural detectives and never let the smallest detail escape them.”

“If you are in the country, you should notice landmarks: objects which help you to find your way or prevent you getting lost, such as distant hills, church towers, trees, gates and rocks.”

“Personally, I like reading adventures which really have happened to people, because they show what kind of things might happen to oneself, and they teach one how to "Be Prepared" to meet them.”

“Living indoors without fresh air quickly poisons the blood and makes people feel tired and seedy. For myself, I sleep out of doors in winter as well as summer.”

“Swimming has its educational value, mental, moral, and physical, in giving you a sense of mastery over an element, and of power of saving life.”

“True Scouts are the best friends of animals, for from living in the woods and wilds, and practising observation and tracking, they get to know more than other people about the ways and habits of birds and animals.”

“The study of nature brings into a harmonious whole the questions of the Infinite, the Historic, and the Microscopic.”