Historic moments -- Rotary mottoes
Rotary's official mottoes, Service Above Self and They Profit Most Who Serve Best, trace back to the early days of the organization.
In
1911, He Profits Most Who Serves Best was approved as the Rotary motto
at the second convention of the National Association of Rotary Clubs of
America, in Portland, Oregon. It was adapted from a speech made by
Rotarian Arthur Frederick Sheldon to the first convention, held in
Chicago the previous year. Sheldon declared that "only the science of
right conduct toward others pays. Business is the science of human
services. He profits most who serves his fellows best."
The
Portland convention also inspired the motto Service Above Self. During
a convention outing on the Columbia River, Ben Collins, president of
the Rotary Club of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, talked with Seattle
Rotarian J.E. Pinkham about the proper way to organize a Rotary club,
offering the principle his club had adopted: Service, Not Self. Pinkham
invited Paul P. Harris, who also was on the boat trip, to join their
conversation. Harris asked Collins to address the convention, and the
phrase Service, Not Self was met with great enthusiasm.
At the 1950 RI Convention in Detroit, slightly modified versions of the two slogans were formally approved as the official mottoes of Rotary: He Profits Most Who Serves Best and Service Above Self. The 1989 Council on Legislation established Service Above Self as the principal motto of Rotary, because it best conveys the philosophy of unselfish volunteer service. He Profits Most Who Serves Best was modified by the 2004 Council to its current wording, They Profit Most Who Serve Best.
For more historical information about Rotary, visit Rotary History and Archives or the Rotary Global History Fellowship.