99 Quotes For BSA Scouts: Inspiration On Your Scouting Adventure

Ready to live with even more Scout spirit? How about some insightful sayings and inspiring quotes to light your Scouting trail? On my path to Eagle, hearing the lessons of the greats who came before me served as motivation to progress and step up in my troop. I hope the quotes I’ll be sharing do the same for you!

Get ready to dive into a treasure trove of quotes on Scouting, camping, hiking, citizenship, the journey to Eagle, and so much more! To kick things off on the right note though, let’s begin with a quote by Scouting’s founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, on the essence of being a Scout:

“In assisting his ‘neighbor’ 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.”
Lord Robert Baden-Powell

Now, what fun is a quote without someone to share it with? As you comb through this article, I challenge you to find a few of your favorite sayings, and share them with a Scout buddy to inspire them as well. Helping others is the essence of leadership (which we’ll be covering a whole lot more in quotes 44-67), so do your best to share the love! 😀

Quotes About Scouting

“Scouting is a game for boys under the leadership of boys under the direction of a man.” -Lord Robert Baden Powell
“Scouting teaches a boy to take care of himself and stand on his own two feet.” -Ezra Taft Benson
“Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best.” -Juliette Gordon Low
“The sport in Scouting is to find the good in every boy and develop it.” -Lord Robert Baden-Powell
“I strongly believe in Scouting. … It’s a source of great strength to us.” -John F. Kennedy
“Scouting has something to offer everyone, and everyone has something to offer Scouting.”
“As soon as you start talking about Scouting, there’s an immediate connection and brotherhood.” -John Coyle
“I have never forgotten my days as an Eagle Scout. I didn’t know it at the time, but what really came out of my Scouting was learning how to lead and serve the community. It has come in handy in my career in government.” -Lloyd Bentsen

“What Scouting says to people is: Every child has a right to have an adventure. Life is about grabbing opportunities.”
Bear Grylls

Camping Quotes For Scouts

“A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room.” -Lord Robert Baden-Powell
“Wherever you camp in the world, the campfire will be one of the things that sticks in your memory the most!” -Mehmet Murat ildan
“Camping: The art of getting closer to nature while getting farther away from the nearest cold beverage, hot shower, and flush toilet.”
“It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.” –Dave Barry
“When you get a little dirt in your food while camping, it’s called ‘trail seasoning.’”
“Camping – because therapy is expensive.”
“There’s no wi-fi in the mountains, but you’ll find no better connection.”
“Money can not buy happiness but it can buy a tent and that’s kinda the same thing.”
“Camping is about re-connecting with our primordial selves. The reason that cooking humble food around a campfire, surrounded by family and friends, feels so good is that for eons that was the definition of life in the tribe. It is woven into our very DNA.”

A Funny Tale: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson Go Camping…

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decided to go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and went to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
“Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”
Watson replied, “I see millions of stars.”
“What does that tell you?”
Watson pondered for a minute.
“Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.”
“Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.”
“Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.”
“Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant.”
“Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.”
“What does it tell you, Holmes?”
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke: “Watson, you buffoon. Someone stole our tent!!”

Hiking Quotes For Scouts

“To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.” –Marie Davis
“Hiking is not escapism; it’s realism. The people who choose to spend time outdoors are not running away from anything; we are returning to where we belong.” –Jennifer Pharr Davis
“The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom.” -Theodore Roosevelt
“I have never been lost, but I will admit to being bewildered for several weeks.” -Daniel Boone
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few are dirt.” -John Muir
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” -Edward Abbey

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
John Muir

“Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.” –Albert Einstein
“The best views come after the hardest climb.”
“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it.” -Andy Rooney
“A walk in nature walks the soul back home.” -Mary Davis

Fitness Quotes For Scouts

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” -Muhammad Ali
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” -Aristotle
“The body achieves what the mind believes.” -Napoleon Hill

“I’ve failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan

“The hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made, so if you push through, you can push through anything.” -Dana Vollmer
“If something stands between you and your success, move it. Never be denied.” -Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” -Babe Ruth
“The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger
“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” -Vince Lombardi
“Confidence comes from discipline and training.” -Robert Kiyosaki

“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, just pretend that you do and at some point, you will.”
Venus Williams

“What hurts today makes you stronger tomorrow.” -Jay Cutler
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” -Mahatma Gandhi
“Your health account, your bank account, they’re the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take out. Exercise is king and nutrition is queen. Together you have a kingdom.” -Jack LaLanne

Leadership Quotes For Scouts

“You don’t need a title to be a leader.”
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” -Max DePree
“You manage things; you lead people.” -Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” -John Maxwell

“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.“
Lord Robert Baden-Powell

“To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” -Andre Malraux
“Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.” -Brian Tracy
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” -Theodore M. Hesburgh
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” -Rosalynn Carter
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.” -Andrew Carnegie
“Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” -Robert Louis Stevenson
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”
John Quincy Adams

Quotes for Reaching Eagle Scout

“‘On my honor’ – what an ennobling phrase! Three short words, nine letters, but the summation of all we call character.” -Ezra Taft Benson
“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.” -Lord Robert Baden-Powell
“In Scouting, you are combating the brooding of selfishness.”
“Focus on being productive instead of being busy.” -Tim Ferris
“The Boy Scouts of America stands for a set of principles. These principles have a lot of staying power. The values you learn as a Scout are like a compass. They can help you find your way through difficult and sometimes unchartered terrain. The principles of Scouting give you a sense of what’s important. I feel I owe the Boy Scouts a great deal, both personally and professionally.” – Bill Bradley
“I have never forgotten my days as an Eagle Scout. I didn’t know it at the time, but what really came out of my Scouting was learning how to lead and serve the community. It has come in handy in my career in government.” -Lloyd Bentsen
“Scouting is a Game with a Purpose.” -William Hillcourt

“As a Tenderfoot Scout, the task of one day becoming a troop leader and Eagle Scout seemed like a faraway dream. But, by trying to grow a bit better each day, I eventually woke up to find I’d done more than I ever thought I could.”
Me!

“I will keep on hurdling and keep on hustling.” -Gucci Mane
“Scouting exposes young men to people and experiences that encourage and nurture positive moral values. But we mustn’t take Scouting for granted. You can do nothing more important for young people today than to continue, or begin, your support of Scouting. I have never met anyone with devoted Scouting experience who was not a solid citizen, a loyal friend, and a patriot. We need more of them.” -Wallace G. Wilkinson
“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Citizenship Quotes For Scouts

“Citizenship is the chance to make a difference to the place where you belong.” -Charles Handy
“And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” -Nelson Mandela
“The most important thing an institution does is not to prepare a student for a career but for a life as a citizen.” -Frank Newman

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead

“Citizenship is an attitude, a state of mind, an emotional conviction that the whole is greater than the part and that the part should be humbly proud to sacrifice itself that the whole may live.” -Robert A. Heinlein
“Our true nationality is humankind.” -H.G. Wells
“We have created a society where individual rights and freedoms, compassion and diversity are core to our citizenship.” -Justin Trudeau
“A passive and ignorant citizenry will never create a sustainable world.” -Andrew Gaines
“No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.” -Nelson Mandela
“As citizens, we all have an obligation to intervene and become involved — it’s the citizen who changes things.” -José Saramago
“We should never take the privilege of our citizenship for granted.” -Jane D. Hull

Today You Soar
“Like the grand eagle, you spread your wings
And put forth the effort to do great things.
Looking skyward you dared to challenge the wind,
Harnessing power to help you ascend.
With an eye on the goal, fixed in flight,
You climbed to an impressive height.
Undaunted by gusts and unkind gails,
You never gave up and would not fail.
So now you’ve reached where few even try
As the eagle high in a glorious sky.
Not superior, but grand.
Not proud, but sure.
Not a cub, wolf, or bear but an eagle pure.
Today you soar.”
Richelle E. Goodrich

Quotes for Sticking to It When It Gets Hard

“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” -H. G. Wells
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” -Robert H. Schuller
“Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.” -H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” -Thomas Edison
“Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit.” -Napoleon Hill
“When the going gets tough, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Don’t give up.” -Roy T. Bennett

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Confucius

Quotes for Making The Most of Your Life

“All our dreams can come true; if we have the courage to pursue them.” –Walt Disney
“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.” –Mahatma Gandhi
“There is no shortcut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation – veneer isn’t worth anything.” –George Washington Carver
“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” –Alexander Graham Bell
“There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.” –Jim Lovell

“The power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, our present and our future. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of the young people.”
Kailash Satyarthi

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” –Albert Schweitzer
“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” –Dale Carnegie
“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” –Stephen Hawking
“The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” –Aesop

“My belief is that we were put into this world of wonders and beauty with a special ability to appreciate them, in some cases 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.”
Lord Robert Baden-Powell

Conclusion

If you enjoyed reading these quotes, be sure to also check out my other article with 67 Epic Scouting Quotes To Keep Scouts Prepared And Inspired. I love quotes, so I has happy to spend the time curating completely new ones in this other inspiration-packed article. 🙂

All of the insights we covered here today will be sure to guide you along a rewarding and uplifting Scouting journey to Eagle! Make sure to share your favorite quotes with your troop, and always do your best to be your best. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for reading, and for spreading positivity in your community and troop! If you enjoyed learning these awesome Scouting quotes, I’d highly recommend also checking out any of the following articles if they spark your interest:

That’s all for now! Hope to back here at ScoutSmarts again soon and, until next time, I’m wishing you all the best on your Scouting adventures!