Service: The motives behind motivation
From the September 2016 issue of The Rotarian
You may be surprised to learn that in 1905, when Rotary began, it was not based on the idea of Service Above Self. Instead, the two main aims of the Chicago club were “the promotion of the business interests of its members” and “good fellowship and other desiderata ordinarily incident to Social Clubs.”
But for Paul Harris, that wasn’t enough. He wanted a club that would get involved in civic affairs and benefit the community.
A prospective member, Chicago attorney Donald Carter, had been “struck by the selfish character of the organization,”…
