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 It
should be safe to assume that much of the knowledge, particularly
scientific, was discovered during the 20th century.
But,
it also arguably could be said that most of the "great ideas" and
philosophies of our world came long before. Much of what we have today came
from the minds of discoverers with classical training in the arts,
humanities and philosophy. Rotary is one such example. What we call
Rotary was the inspiration of one man, Paul Harris. However, by his own admission, the ideas
he had were not
new.
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"Little which is
worthwhile comes without effort. It could not be appreciated if
it were so to come. Rotary was not the result of a stroke of
genius; in fact, there is little if anything, even original
about it. There is wisdom in the expression, 'There is nothing
new under the sun.'"
Paul P. Harris, Page 73 "This Rotarian Age" 1935 |
The most urgent need at the
present stage in the development of Rotary is not "more
clubs" nor "larger clubs" ; it is the evolution of a truer
and stronger philosophy.
It is not only necessary to the permanency of the success of
Rotary that its philosophy be idealized and standardized. It
must also be practicalized and trued."
Paul P. Harris, November 1911
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This
section will highlight the
"ideas" that made Rotary great and trace the
origins of some.
Paul Harris has
already written the finest possible work about his own life "The
Founder of Rotary" and "My
Road to Rotary." Also, the story of how Rotary began, how it succeeded and
its future could not be told better than in his book "This
Rotarian Age."
Ches
Perry, Rotary's first secretary, was challenged by founder Harris:
"Perry, what do you consider to be the philosophy of Rotary?" Read
Perry's January 1912 article in the National Rotarian. Also a
section of papers of
Paul's
Also, the
second president of Rotary comments on the need for philosophy in an
article in 1951
Harris, in 1915,
then wrote of his regret that
Rotary had yet to create its philosophy. This had not happened
by the centennial of Rotary.
This section,
then, may hold the keys to understanding Paul Harris' vision and our future. Through the writings of Paul Harris and all the
presidents of Rotary International come the threads of the Rotary
Philosophy. Though much of it starts with a brilliant young attorney
the road leads on to today.
We also focus here on writings of the world's
great minds as quoted by leaders of Rotary to learn more about the
frame of reference of our early and contemporary leaders.
Is this a monument to Paul Harris? No! One has
only to read his work to judge for yourself his humility, foibles
and failings. Here we only seek to elevate great ideas that have
relevance today.
You'll get a good orientation to the Rotary
philosophy section of this department on the philosophy section main
page. From this page, you can explore other work by Harris, other
Rotarians and many great minds of the ages.
Jack Selway, 1 January 2004,
Founder Rotary Global History Fellowship |