I have found that a smile and a stick will carry you through all

Hear the words of Robert Powell, who spoke with the sharp wisdom of one who has seen much of men and the world: “I have found that a smile and a stick will carry you through all right, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is the smile that does the trick.” In this saying lies a paradox ancient and eternal—that both gentleness and strength are tools of survival, yet more often than not it is the power of kindness, not force, that wins the day. The stick symbolizes authority, discipline, and the threat of consequence, while the smile embodies warmth, persuasion, and goodwill. Powell declares that though the world respects power, it is the smile that opens hearts and dissolves resistance.

The ancients themselves knew this truth well. Consider the old fables of Aesop, who told of the sun and the wind quarreling over which could compel a traveler to remove his cloak. The wind blew fiercely with all its might, but the traveler only wrapped his cloak tighter. Then the sun shone warmly, and the man cast the cloak aside with ease. The moral of the tale is the same as Powell’s: that persuasion through gentleness and light accomplishes what sheer force cannot. The smile is the sun of the human face, soft yet irresistible.

History too testifies. Think of Mahatma Gandhi, who possessed neither armies nor wealth, yet through peaceful resistance and the disarming force of humility, brought an empire to its knees. His stick was principle, but his true weapon was the smile—the radiance of moral courage that made tyrants appear small and unjust. In his life we see Powell’s saying lived out: power alone may compel obedience, but a spirit of kindness and truth transforms the very heart of man.

Or recall the story of Abraham Lincoln, whose country was torn apart by civil war. He carried the stick of authority as President, yet it was often said that his greatest strength lay in his capacity for humor, gentleness, and the warmth of his smile. When confronted with critics or even enemies, he used charm and humanity to win them over where force would only have hardened them. One senator remarked, “Lincoln’s smile disarmed me before he even spoke.” This was Powell’s lesson made flesh.

The meaning, then, is not that discipline and strength are useless—sometimes the stick must be raised to guard justice and order—but that true mastery of life lies in knowing that the smile reaches deeper. The stick compels action through fear; the smile inspires it through love. Fear may secure obedience for a moment, but goodwill secures loyalty for a lifetime. Thus, in ninety-nine cases of a hundred, it is not the threat but the kindness that achieves the greater victory.

The lesson is clear: choose the path of persuasion before the path of force. Let the smile be your first weapon, the stick your last. Speak with gentleness, approach with warmth, disarm with kindness. Even in conflict, remember that the human soul responds more to light than to shadow. By cultivating the power of the smile, you build bonds instead of barriers, you win hearts instead of battles.

Practical actions flow from this wisdom. Begin your dealings each day with warmth; when confronting opposition, try kindness before compulsion; and in leadership, wield the smile more often than the stick. Let your presence bring ease, not tension, for a single smile has been known to accomplish what years of force cannot. Carry this truth with you, and you will walk not only in strength but in wisdom.

Thus Powell’s words remain a guide through the ages: “A smile and a stick will carry you through, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is the smile that does the trick.” For the true strength of man is not in the force of his arm but in the radiance of his spirit, shining through the simple, disarming power of a smile.