RGHF Rotary Global History

 

"Slowly, we seek to serve others, believing that history will encourage membership retention."

HISTORY●GLOBAL●DISTRICT●CLUB●MISSING●LIBRARY●HARRIS●PEACE●TRF●PHILOSOPHY●PRESIDENTS●CONVENTIONS●NEW●COMMITTEE●JOIN●email●FORUM●SEARCH●RGHF RGHF is not responsible for Google translation errors

Home SECTION HOME Early Leaders of Rotary International - The Developers of Rotary HISTORY CALENDAR
SCHIELE RUGGLES BEAR WOOD COLLINS SHELDON
MORROW DAVIDSON RALSTON ROTH COATES OTHER DEVELOPERS
COORDINATOR NEEDED DISCUSSION COMMITTEE WHAT'S NEW? UPDATES
Arthur "Fred" Sheldon, teacher of business, creator of Rotary's "classification system," author of one of our mottos. One of Rotary's most forward "Early Leaders."
Question: What was the intended meaning of "He Profits Most Who Serves Best"? *

He Profits Most Who Serves Best was modified by the 2004 Rotary International Council on Legislation, to its current wording, They Profit Most Who Serve Best.

Would you like to earn more money? If so, learn about Arthur Frederick "Fred" Sheldon. If you take the time to understand what he wrote and why, you will discover a very important lesson in business which most Rotarians misunderstood.

 

It is not what many people think....

 

I wish you a good learning experience, Jack Selway

 

 

Sheldon whose occupation was running a business school, took out the ad on the right in The Rotarian in 1917. (courtesy of Wolfgang Ziegler)

 

Read RGHF Senior Historian Basil Lewis' essay

 

 

 

 

1921 Sheldon photo from Doug Rudman
This February 1976 article in The Rotarian tells the story of Arthur Frederick Sheldon who joined Rotary Club of Chicago in 1908. He became responsible for our vocational service, but is best known for our motto when he coined the phrase, "He profits most who serves best." Sheldon saw the law of ethics as "natural laws." He also made a list of 800 classifications for membership. A 1921 speech of Sheldon's was printed by RI for distribution to schools and other institutions and he was an honorary member of several clubs. (copy of his speech) From "This Rotarian Age" which Paul Harris published in 1935, he wrote four pages about Arthur "Fred" Sheldon's observations of business and how "service" or lack of it affected success. It was "service that created profit" decided Sheldon. By reading all of what Harris wrote and comparing that with the material out of context in the previous articles, one can reason that the impression that this motto was also meant to mean something similar to "Service Above Self" was a logical conclusion. But you'll also read that Sheldon was the creator of the classification system and believed in  the value of business and profit for for the betterment of the community.

1911 Platform • Today's Platform • Sheldon proceedings and speech

  Pages 95-98 of "This Rotarian Age" by Paul P. Harris, 1935

Read a summary of Sheldon's 45 minute speech to the 1921 convention in Edinburgh where he clearly defines his philosophy of "Service" and his "motto" for Rotary.

Some of that speech is also here.

Because a modern council on legislation chose only "Service above Self" as Rotary's official motto, and left "He Profits Most Who Serves Best" it might be helpful to understand that these two mottos were entirely separate in meaning and were not intended to be duplicative. We have posted what Paul Harris wrote regarding Sheldon's meaning
Read about the 1911 Platform, including the Motto
Also read 1913 RI President Glenn Mead's article: "Service Begins at Home"
 

Become a member of Rotary Global History Fellowship for only $30 USD. Dues support internet, membership services, and convention costs. Click here to join!

RGHF Disclaimer  Privacy Policy  Usage Agreement

The contents of this website, our electronic features and newsletters have been researched, collected, compiled, and written by Rotarians.

RGHF Mission: As an effort to serve others, RGHF accumulates and preserves the complete history, values and philosophy of the Rotary movement, as well as encourages others to do the same at every level of the Rotary movement, and publishes those histories, values and philosophies on the internet, as well as other forms of media as expedient. 17 March 2003, amended 20 December 2007, Rotary Global History Fellowship Board of Directors.

This fellowship is not an agency of, or controlled by, Rotary International, but is affiliated with individual Rotary districts, clubs, other Rotary organizations and enjoys the support of Rotarians, clubs, districts, and zones world-wide. The views and opinions expressed on this website are not necessarily the collective views and opinions of Rotary International or all Rotarians. Rotary International is not responsible for any content and accepts no liability therefore. © 2000-2008 RGHF (Rotary Global History Fellowship)