Re: "A hundred years from now"

There's been much discussion on the list recently about the source of the
"hundred years from now" quote. Despite the fact that it's been attributed
to numerous individuals (including the prolific Anonymous!), it was
actually written by Forrest Witcraft, who was, I believe, editor of
Scouting magazine in the 1950s.

Below is the complete version of Witcraft's wonderful piece. (By the way,
this comes from Gary Hendra's great MacScouter Web site:
www.macscouter.com. The specific page is
www.macscouter.com/General/ThingsScouting.html.)

Mark Ray
Troop 317
Louisville, KY

I am not a very important man, as importance is commonly rated. I do not
have great wealth, control a big business, or occupy a position of great
honor or authority.

Yet I may someday mold destiny. For it is within my power to become the
most important man in the world in the life of a boy. And every boy is a
potential atom bomb in human history.

A humble citizen like myself might have been the Scoutmaster of a troop in
which an undersized unhappy Austrian lad by the name of Adolph might have
found a joyous boyhood, full of the ideals of brotherhood, goodwill, and
kindness. And the world would have been different.

A humble citizen like myself might have been the organizer of a Scout troop
in which a Russian boy called Joe might have learned the lessons of
democratic cooperation.

These men would never have known that they had averted world tragedy, yet
actually they would have been among the most important men who ever lived.

All about me are boys. They are the makers of history, the builders of
tomorrow. If I can have some part in guiding them up the trails of
Scouting, onto the high road of noble character and constructive
citizenship, I may prove to be the most important man in their lives, the
most important man in my community.

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the
sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be
different, because I was important in the life of a boy.

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