MENT

A Great Law of Life

One of the most fundamental laws of life is that, in the natural course
of things, the influence of women over men is vastly greater than that
of men over one another.

This is what gives to girls and women a peculiar power and
responsibility, for no Girl Scout or other honorable woman--whether old
or young--could use her influence as a woman excepting to strengthen the
characters and to support the honor of the men and boys with whom she
comes in contact.

Kipling, in ~Kim~, says that there are two kinds of women,--~one kind that
builds men up, and the other that pulls men down~; and there is no doubt
as to where a Girl Scout should stand.

This great law is nothing to make a girl feel proud or superior to men;
but, on the contrary, the understanding of it should make her humble and
watchful to be faithful to her trust. Many a boy has been strengthened
in his character and his whole life made happier by the brave refusal of
a girl to do wrong; while the opposite weakness has been the cause of
endless misery and wretchedness.

To gain and always retain the power to be a true woman friend to the men
who belong in her own sphere of life is not always an easy matter for a
girl, for she cannot do it unless she keeps a watch over her own faults
and weaknesses so that the best of her is always in control. You can not
fight for the right in the life of another unless you are first fighting
for the right in your own life.

The chief difficulty in acquiring this happy and cheerful dignity comes
from _the desire to be admired_, which is a tendency inborn in the great
majority of women. It stands in the way of their greatest strength and
usefulness, because it takes away their real independence and keeps them
thinking about themselves instead of about others. It is a form of
bondage which makes them vain and self-conscious and renders impossible
the truest and happiest companionship between men and women friends.

"Be prepared," therefore, to do a true woman's full duty to her men by
never allowing the desire for admiration to rule your actions, words, or
thoughts. Our country needs women who are prepared.

Prepared for what?

To do their duty.

Be Strong

Have you ever stopped to think that your most constant companion
throughout life will be yourself? You will always have this body, this
mind, and this spirit that you call "I," but this body, this mind, this
spirit are constantly gr