SundayJan 11, 2026
Quotes: 53419 Authors: 9969
Commemorative stone in the floor of the Chapel of St. George in Westminster Abbey, London, dedicated in 1947: TO THE MEMORY OF ROBERT BADEN-POWELL CHIEF SCOUT OF THE WORLD 1857-1941 Upon one side of the stone was the badge of the Boy Scouts, the arrow-head to point the true way as it had pointed the way for sailors and navigators from the time of the earliest maps; and on the other the badge of the Girl Guides-the three-leafed clover.
In a difficult situation one never-failing guide is to ask yourself: 'What would Christ have done?' Then do it-as nearly as you can.
Always do I recall the parting words uttered by my old governor: 'My boy, never ...' I won't set 'em down. I disregarded them fool-like and paid, and paid; had I a son I'd hand 'em on and ram 'em home. What fools we be when young. We fancy we be wise, forgetting that the old boys have graduated in the 'varsity of the world, the greatest 'varsity of all, and each day we should learn from they.
This world that we're a' livin' in Is mighty hard to beat: Of course there's thorns in every rose, But ain't the roses sweet !
A thing that many young fellows don't seem to realism at first is that success depends on oneself and not on a kindly fate, nor on the interest of powerful friends.
Varied are the ideas of what constitutes 'success,' e.g. money, position, power, achievement, honours, and the like. But these are not open to every mannor do they bring what is real success, namely, happiness.
As Sir Henry Newbolt sums it up: 'The real test of success is whether a life has been a happy one and a happy giving one.'
Almost any biography will have its useful suggestions for making life a success, but none better or more unfailing than the biography of Christ.
Yet one more item is needed to complete success, and that is the rendering of service to others in the community. Without this the mere satisfaction of selfish desire does not reach the top notch.
Possibly the best suggestion in condensed form, as to how to live, was given by my old Headmaster, Dr. Haig Brown, in 1904, when he wrote his Recipe for Old Age. A diet moderate and spare, Freedom from base financial care, Abundant work and little leisure, A love of duty more than pleasure, An even and contented mind In charity with all mankind, Some thoughts too sacred for display In the broad light of common day, A peaceful home, a loving wife, Children, who are a crown of life; These lengthen out the years of man Beyond the Psalmist's narrow span.
'Softly, softly, catchee monkey,' is the West African rendering of a very valuable precept. An awful lot of men fail through lack of patient persistence.
The great thing that strikes you on looking back is how quickly you have comehow very brief is the span of life on this earth. The warning that one would give, therefore, is that it is well not to fritter it away on things that don't count in the end; nor on the other hand is it good to take life too seriously as some seem to do. Make it a happy life while you have it. That is where success is possible to every man.
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.
... that powerful lever, the human touch ...
I have over and over again explained that the purpose of the Boy Scout and Girl Guide Movement is to build men and women as citizens endowed with the three H's namely, Health, Happiness and Helpfulness. The man or woman who succeeds in developing these three attributes has secured the main steps to success this Life.
Mind you, I have had in my sojourn on earth as good a time of it as any man, so I can speak with some knowledge. A writer in the Manchester Guardian who is unknown to me lately described me as 'the richest man in the world.' That sounds a pretty big order, but when I come to think it out I believe he is not far wrong. A rich man is not necessarily a man with a whole pot of money but a man who is really happy. And I am that.
I have known lots of millionaires who were not happy men; they had not got all they wanted and therefore had failed to find success in life. A Singalese proverb says: 'He who is happy is rich, but it does not follow that he who is rich is happy.' The really rich man is the man who has fewest wants.
Happiness is open to all, since, when you boil it down, it merely consists of contentment with what you have got and doing what you can for other people.
I have often urged my young friends, when faced with an adversary, to 'play polo' with him; i.e., not to go at him bald-headed but to ride side by side with him and gradually edge him off your track. Never lose your temper with him. If you are in the right there is no need to, if you are in the wrong you can't afford to.
(When next you are worried or angry, force yourself to turn up the corners of your mouth and smile-and you will find the value of this tip.)
... the Devil is best described by the term ' Selfulness.'
Young men, of course, don't want to be guided by old back numbers, but at the same time I know that in my own case I gained a lot by studying the characters of the chiefs under whom I served from time to time. Lord Wolseley, for instance, said: 'Use your common sense rather than book instructions.'
After forming a cadet corps of boys for assisting as noncombatants during a military campaign in 1900: We then made the discovery that boys, when trusted and relied on, were just as capable and reliable as men.
Your natural inclination is to preach and to warn other travellers of snags in the path, but isn't it better to signal to them some of the joys by the way which they might otherwise miss?
For these [difficulties] I have found that a smile and a stick will carry you through all right, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is the smile that does the trick.
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