Inspirational Quotations by Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (Founder of the Boy Scouts)

Robert Baden-Powell (1857–1941,) fully Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell of Gilwell, was an English military officer. A prolific writer about his military experiences, he is celebrated for starting an international Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements.

Baden-Powell was born in London and educated at Charterhouse. He joined the army in 1876, focused in reconnaissance and scouting, served in India and Afghanistan, was on the staff in Ashanti and Matabeleland, and won reputation as the defender of Mafeking (1899–1900) in the Boer War. He was promoted lieutenant-general in 1907. (In 1999, Baden-Powell’s character came under attack for mistreatment of black people during the Mafeking Siege.)

Having learned that his military textbook Aids to Scouting (1899) was being used for training boys in woodcraft, Baden-Powell ran an experimental scouting camp in Dorset in 1907, and he wrote an outline for the proposed Boy Scout movement. He formally instituted the Boy Scout movement in 1908 and, with his sister Agnes and wife Olave, founded the Girl Guide movement in 1910. These grew to become prominent international youth movements; by the year 2000, over 25 million members had enrolled in the movements in more than 216 countries. Baden-Powell also founded the Wolf Cubs (1916,) and was christened World Chief Scout in 1920.

Baden-Powell’s autobiography is Lessons of a Lifetime (1933.) Notable biographies include Tim Jeal’s The Boy-Man: The Life of Lord Baden-Powell (1990.)

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