Rotary started something with the Four Way Test. Rotary started people thinking about their actions and words and deeds. Because of Rotary, the Four Way Test elevated itself from a national standing to international standing; how wonderful!
As with etiquette and good manners, the element of good will found in Rotary’s Four Way Test is also found in etiquette on a national and international level. There is so much to learn from one another and about one another. We need to embrace international good will by embracing, first, each country’s own ‘Good Will Bill of Rights’ as well as their proclaimed code of ethics.
Cultural etiquette stands just as tall and sings the same praises as Rotary’s Four Way test. In one hand we have cultural etiquette which opens its vast numbers of books and pages to anyone who would venture to learn. In the other hand we hold Rotary’s Four Way Test that teaches us, in a heart beat, the important of good will which equates to better friendships. Etiquette also teaches the importance of good will and how it embraces friendship. Rotary and etiquette teach compatibility that begins between our two eyes and travels to the center of our heart. One depends upon the other; think ‘four way’ and see ‘good will.’
As we travel the world let us first study the humanitarian efforts of the world to see if the net truly spreads across the vastness of the world and encompasses one and all. How wonderful that Rotary includes all and forever thinks that there is no limit to what we may do. It is just as etiquette knows that with civility we will all matter, we will all be counted, and we will all – together – signal the next decade of excellence and good will. Rotary and etiquette remain forces that go hand-in-hand.
Rotary International remains limitless in what each Rotarians may do. As with etiquette, ‘may’ indicates permission and ‘can’ continues to bring to mind the ‘can-do’ spirit. All who know Rotarians know Rotarians equate to the ‘can-do’ spirit. Only a person without an active imagination falls by the wayside and is left wondering what happened to the window of opportunity marked ‘good will.’ Show what you are made of by projecting your civility and your can-do spirit. You may step up to the plate; you have my permission.
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It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.
— Roy Disney, producer
I have a distant cousin who has been involved in the Rotary and sent me the guide via another cousin. She is in Texas and was raised near KC MO.
Her whole family had to apply these questions before they could do anything. I wrote them and posted them in my classroom. My fifth grade classroom knows to ask: Is it truthful? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build Goodwill and better relationships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
what is the 4 - way test about?