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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.

-Robert Baden-Powell

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I Have Often Urged

Robert Baden-Powell

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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.

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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.

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The Scoutmaster Teaches Boys To Play The Game By Doing So Himself.

Leave This World A Little Better Than You Found It.

Loyalty Is A Feature In A Boy's Character That Inspires Boundless Hope.

The Patrol System Leads Each Boy To See That He Has Some Individual Responsibility For The Good Of His Patrol.

"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.

Sunday Is A Day Of Rest. Loafing Is Not Rest.

It Is Risky To Order A Boy Not To Do Something; It Immediately Opens To Him The Adventure Of Doing It.

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.

A Scout Is Never Taken By Surprise; He Knows Exactly What To Do When Anything Unexpected Happens.

Be Prepared... The Meaning Of The Motto Is That A Scout Must Prepare Himself By Previous Thinking Out And Practicing How To Act On Any Accident Or Emergency So That He Is Never Taken By Surprise.

We Should Take Care, In Inculcating Patriotism Into Our Boys And Girls, That Is A Patriotism Above The Narrow Sentiment Which Usually Stops At One's Country, And Thus Inspires Jealousy And Enmity In Dealing With Others... Our Patriotism Should Be Of The Wider, Nobler Kind Which Recognises Justice And Reasonableness In The Claims Of Others And Which Lead Our Country Into Comradeship With...the Other Nations Of The World.

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.

Girls Should Be Brought Up To Be Comrades And Helpers, Not To Be Dolls. They Should Take A Real And Not A Visionary Share In The Welfare Of The Nation.

Happiness Is Not Mere Pleasure, Not The Outcome Of Wealth. It Is The Result Of Active Work Rather Than Passive Enjoyment Of Pleasure.

It Is The Patrol System That Makes The Troop, And All Scouting For That Matter, A Real Co-operative Matter.

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.

Football Is A Grand Game For Developing A Lad Physically And Also Morally, For He Learns To Play With Good Temper And Unselfishness, To Play In His Place, And To Play The Game, And These Are The Best Of Training For Any Game Of Life.

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.

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.

Show Me A Poorly Uniformed Troop And I'll Show You A Poorly Uniformed Leader.

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 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.

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.

"be Prepared." "be Prepared For What?" "why, For Any Old Thing."

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Almost Any Biography Will Have Its Useful Suggestions For Making Life A Success, But None Better Or More Unfailing Than The Biography Of Christ.

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A Week Of Camp Life Is Worth Six Months Of Theoretical Teaching In The Meeting Room.

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Trust Should Be The Basis For All Our Moral Training.

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."

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.

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.

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Look Wide, Beyond Your Immediate Surroundings And Limits, And You See Things In Their Right Proportion. Look Above The Level Of Things Around You And See A Higher Aim And Possibility To Your Work.

Success In Training The Boy Depends Largely On The Scoutmaster's Own Personal Example.

It Is Called In Our Schools 'beastliness', And This Is About The Best Name For It... Should It Become A Habit It Quickly Destroys Both Health And Spirits; He Becomes Feeble In Body And Mind, And Often Ends In A Lunatic Asylum.

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The Uniform Makes For Brotherhood, Since When Universally Adopted It Covers Up All Differences Of Class And Country.

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.

An Individual Step In Character Training Is To Put Responsibility On The Individual.

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Correcting Bad Habits Cannot Be Done By Forbidding Or Punishment.

The Secret Of Getting Successful Work Out Of Your Trained Men Lies In One Nutshell—in The Clearness Of The Instructions They Receive.

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