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Exploring The
Four-Way Test Texas
Style
A
man that I respect in his wisdom, Warren Buffet, once said: “You
never know if a man is naked until the tide goes out.” Rotary’s
Four-Way Test is a means to find out the merit of a man or woman
through their behavior and successful deeds in their community. One
can hold this simple test up to all kind of actions and experiences
which reveals the worth of that person and those around him or her.
There are some key words in that test: Truth, Goodwill and
Friendship, Beneficial, Think, Say, Do and, most important, Fair. As
a Texan who was born in Pennsylvania, I went to memorable, historic
figures from my adopted state and a few others that Texans call
their own (although they come from other places) for issues related
to this Four-Way Test. As a fellow Rotarian remarked, “After
reviewing their words, I can only come to one conclusion: Texans are
thinkers, talkers and especially doers.” Also he came to this added
conclusion: “…the Four-Way Test should not be solely a measuring
stick against which proposed actions are measured. While it is
certainly easy to be truthful and fair when you do nothing, how can
you build goodwill and better friendship and be beneficial to all
concerned when nothing is accomplished.” Like “Service Above Self”,
the Four-Way Test calls us to action to improve our community. If
you don’t remember another thing about the Four-Way Test, you should
take to heart the famous words of that great American and Texan who
served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives for
sixteen years, longer than any other person, Sam Rayborn, when he
said: “Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good
carpenter to build one.” To move to the future, Service Above Self
must wed itself to Service Without Borders. That is the next
challenge and the Four-Way Test is a good tool for that journey.
Let’s take the Four-Way Test apart to key words and add the thoughts
of special people:
TRUTH
Dizzy Dean and Oscar Wilde: “It ain’t braggin’ if you
can back it up.”
Will Rogers: “If you ever injected truth into politics you
have no politics.”
Phil Gramm: “I have the reliable friend you can have in
American politics, and that is ready
money.”
Cochese: “You must speak straight so that your words may go
as sunlight into our heart.”
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce: “It does not require many words to
speak the truth.”
Mark Twain: “Truth is tough. It will not break, like a
bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day, like a
football, and it will be round and full at evening.”
Walter Cronkite: “In seeking truth, you have to get both
sides of a story.”
“And that’s the way it is.”
Sam Rayborn: “If you simply tell the truth, you’ll never get
mixed up. Then you don’t have to remember what you’ve said.”
Dan Rather: “The dream begins with a teacher who believes in
you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau,
sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called “truth.”
GOODWILL AND FRIENDSHIPS
Lyndon Baines Johnson: “If we must disagree, let’s
disagree without being disagreeable.” “You’ve got to work things
out in the cloakroom, and when you’ve got them worked out, you can
debate a little before you vote.”
Mary Kay Ash: “Sandwich every bit of criticism between two
heavy layers of praise.”
Mark Twain: “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear
and the blind can see.”
Barbara Bush: “Nobody is perfect. Look for the good in
others. Forget the rest.”
“Remember loyalty is a two-way
street.”
Sam Rayborn: “If you want to get along, go along.”
Babe Didrikson Zaharias: “Winning has always meant much to
me, but winning friends has meant more.”
BENEFICIAL
Stepher F. Austin: (His self-styled epitaph, December
27, 1836) “The prosperty of Texas has been the object of my labors,
the idol of my existence.”
Davy Crockett: (After losing a congressional election in
Tennesee) “As my country no longer needs my services, I have made up
my mind to go to Texas.”
Lyndon Baines Johnson: “Every man has a right to a Saturday
night bath.” “Never pass up an opportunity to do an honorable favor
for an honest friend.” “Sincerely attempt to heal, on an honest
Christian basis, every misunderstanding that you have had or now
have. Drain off your grievances.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower: “You don’t lead by hitting people over
the head- that’s assault, not leadership.”
Stanley Marcus: “The best public relations are based on good
deeds.” “People who learn to be service oriented actually derive
more pleasure from their work.”
Mark Twain: “To be good is noble; but to show others how to be
good is nobler and no trouble.”
Sam Rayborn (we can’t use this quote too often): “Any jackass
can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”
Note: that last quote may have been the brainchild of one of
the following: Ann Richards, Lyndon Baines Johnson, or Phil Gramm,
as well as Sam Rayborn who is famous for using it more than the
others mentioned.
Zig Ziglar: “He climbs highest who helps another up.”
George Jones: “My work? I’m makin’ people happy, and they darn
sure make me happy.”
THINK
George Jones: “Sometimes the good Lord has to hit us with a
sledgehammer to knock some sense into our heads.”
Lyndon Baines Johnson: “If two men agree on everything, you may
be sure that one of them is doing the thinking.” “The hardest task
is not to do what is right but to know what is right.”
Barbara Jordan: “Do not call for black power or green power.
Call for brain power.”
Sam Houston: “The benefits of education and of useful knowledge,
generally diffused through a community, are essential to the
preservation of a free government.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower: “A people who value privilege above
principle will soon lose both.”
Gen. George S. Patton: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell
them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
Willie Nelson: “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive
ones, you’ll start have positive results.”
Chester W. Nimitz: “God grant me the courage not to give up
what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”
Sid Richardson: “My business philosophy? Don’t be in too big a
hurry, don’t get exceited, and don’t lose your sense of humor. You
can’t be objective and emotional at the same time.”
Sam Rayborn: “Have faith. It’s contagious.”
Nolan Ryan: “You can’t have a long, successful career without
a positive attitude. A can-do mentality is a pitcher’s best friend.”
Zig Ziglar: “Negativism is nothing more than the improper use
of your imagination.”
SAY
Bun Phillips: “I don’t mind people thinking I’m stupid,
but I don’t want to give them any proof.”
Lyndon Baines Johnson: “Never miss an opportunity to say a word
of congratulations.” “While you’re trying to save face, you’re
probably losing your rear.”
Sam Rayborn: “Don’t ever try to go too fast. Learn your job.
Don’t ever talk until you know what you’re talking about.” “No one
has a finer command of the language than the person who keeps his
mouth shut.”
Ann Richards: “Timing is everything. Bob Hope owns most of Palm
Springs because he knows when not to say anything.”
Mary Kay Ash: “A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will
go further than a great idea that inspires no one.”
DO
H. L. Hunt: “The more wells you drill, the greater
chance you have of finding oil.”
Lyndon Baines Johnson: “The best fertilizer for a piece of land
is the footprints of its owner.” “It’s the price of leadership to
do the thing you believe has to be done at the time it must be
done.”
Jim Hightower: “Do something. If it doesn’t work, do something
else. No idea is too crazy.”
Ann Richards: “You can’t wait on life. If you do, you’re living
some life that’s “gonna happen” instead of the one that’s happening
right now.”
Phil Gramm: “I love Texas because Texas is future-oriented,
because Texans think anything is possible. Texans think big.”
Roger Staubach: “Spectacular achievements are always preceded
by unspectacular preparation.”
Walter Cronkite: “I never had the ambition to be something. I
had the ambition to do something.” “I can’t imagine a person
becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything
he’s got.”
Barbara Bush: “Believe in something larger than yourself… Get
involved in the big ideas of your time.”
Mark Twain: “Do the right thing. It will gratify some people
and astonish the rest.”
Joseph Brant, Mohawk: “No person among us desires any other
reward for performing a brave and worthy action, but the
consciousness of having served his nation.”
Mary Kay Ash: “Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement
them are priceless. Nothing great is ever accomplished without
follow-through.” “God does not ask your ability or inability. He
only asks your availability.”
Sam Houston: “Courage can achieve everything.”
Tom Landry: “Leadership is getting someone to do what they
don’t want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.”
FAIR
Dwight D. Eisenhower: “I despise people who go to the gutter on
either the right or the left and hurl rock at those in the center.”
Trammel Crow: “Fairness begets fairness, and loyalty begets
loyalty, and generosity begets generosity. That’s just the way
humans live and work.”
A fellow Rotarian from the Waco Rotary Club: “Fairness does not
always require equality; fairness considers all the circumstances.”
(Note: this is the same Rotarian who found a majority of these
quotes and I forget his name to give him credit. In fairness, he
would forgive me.)
The Four-Way Test is the “divining rod” to find the
beneficial waters for a global community. It is based on deeds
well-done. And in this search to DO what is BENEFICIAL and FAIR, it
is always important to remember Sam Rayborn’s (or whoever thought it
up) well-used statement: “Any jackass can kick down a barn,
but it takes a good carpenter to build one.” As we move toward a new
era where the world is flat in terms of information and
communication (and “Service Without Borders” is the emerging reality
that Rotary adds to the Four-Way Test and “Service Above Self”), we
need the world’s best carpenters to lead our way.
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