Paul Harris Biography Quotes 32 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Paul Percy Harris was born on April 19, 1868, in Racine, Wisconsin, and spent much of his boyhood in Wallingford, Vermont, where he lived with his grandparents. The small-town fellowship he experienced there left a lasting impression that later shaped his vision of community among professionals in large cities. After early schooling in New England, he pursued higher education and ultimately studied law at the University of Iowa, from which he graduated in 1891. The discipline of the law appealed to him not only as a vocation but as a framework for fairness and civic order, themes that would inform his later leadership.

Wandering Years and Arrival in Chicago
After earning his law degree, Harris traveled widely across the United States and Europe, taking on a variety of jobs and observing local customs and business practices. These years broadened his outlook and sharpened his sense that professional life could be more than transactional. By the mid-1890s he settled in Chicago, a city of rapid growth and bustling commerce, and began to establish himself in private practice as an attorney.

Law Practice and the Idea of Rotary
In Chicago, Harris encountered a metropolis where many people felt anonymous and disconnected from their neighbors. He became convinced that professionals in a large city could recreate the spirit of fellowship and mutual aid he had known in Vermont. His friendship with coal dealer Silvester Schiele proved pivotal: their conversations about trust, ethics, and community among businesspeople helped crystallize Harris's idea for a club grounded in friendship and service rather than mere networking.

Founding the Rotary Club of Chicago
On February 23, 1905, Harris convened a small meeting with Schiele, mining engineer Gustave Loehr, and merchant tailor Hiram E. Shorey at Loehr's downtown office. The group committed to meet regularly and to rotate their gatherings among members' workplaces, giving the new club its name: Rotary. Printer Harry Ruggles soon joined and became an ardent booster, helping with the club's early communications and traditions. The club's aims quickly evolved from camaraderie to include civic improvement and ethical standards in business. Under Harris's steady influence, members embraced the idea that personal friendship and service to the community could reinforce each other.

From a Local Club to an International Movement
The Rotary Club of Chicago grew steadily, inspiring similar clubs in other American cities within a few years. By 1910, representatives met in Chicago to form a federation of clubs, and Harris was chosen to lead the new association in its formative period. He worked closely with Chesley R. Perry, who became the organization's long-serving secretary and a key architect of its administrative stability and growth. As the movement spread beyond the United States, the association's identity evolved into an international fellowship dedicated to public service, goodwill, and high ethical standards in business and the professions.

Harris emphasized continuity of purpose while encouraging local initiative, a balance that helped Rotary adapt to different communities and cultures. During and after World War I, he and other leaders saw in Rotary a means to foster understanding among peoples. Arch C. Klumph, serving later as president, championed the idea of an endowment in 1917, a vision that would become The Rotary Foundation, extending the movement's capacity for educational, health, and humanitarian work. In subsequent decades, Rotarians such as Herbert J. Taylor articulated ethical guides like the Four-Way Test, which the organization embraced, aligning closely with Harris's conviction that business thrives when it is grounded in service and integrity.

Thought Leadership and Writings
Harris wrote and spoke extensively to clarify the movement's ideals. In his book This Rotarian Age (1935), he reflected on Rotary's meaning in a modern, interconnected world, arguing that fellowship, tolerance, and service were essential antidotes to cynicism and strife. His autobiographical work, My Road to Rotary, published posthumously, offered a personal account of his journey from a small Wisconsin birthplace and Vermont upbringing to the creation of a global service organization. Through these writings and countless speeches, he urged clubs to adapt to local needs while holding fast to fundamental principles.

Personal Life
In 1910, Harris married Jean Thomson, a native of Scotland whose warmth and organizational talent made her a beloved presence among Rotarians. The couple made their home in Chicago and often hosted visitors, nurturing friendships that spanned continents. They did not have children, but together they invested their energy in the Rotary family, traveling widely to visit clubs and encourage new leaders. Jean's support and later her own travels after Harris's death helped sustain continuity in the movement he founded.

Later Years and Death
In his later years, Harris remained a guiding figure rather than a day-to-day administrator. He visited clubs in the United States and abroad, attended conventions, and corresponded with leaders who were adapting Rotary to new challenges during the interwar period and World War II. He maintained his law practice in Chicago while devoting extensive time to reflection and counsel for Rotary's expanding global network. Harris died in Chicago on January 27, 1947. The news prompted tributes from Rotarians around the world, who recognized his singular role in shaping a durable, service-oriented fellowship.

Legacy
Paul P. Harris's legacy rests on a simple but transformative insight: that professionals who befriend one another and commit to serving their communities can build trust, improve civic life, and bridge cultural divides. With colleagues and early companions like Silvester Schiele, Gustave Loehr, Hiram E. Shorey, and Harry Ruggles, and with the administrative stewardship of Chesley R. Perry, he helped create a model that spread across borders and generations. The philanthropic vision advanced by Arch C. Klumph and the ethical touchstones later articulated by Rotarians such as Herbert J. Taylor deepened and institutionalized the ideals Harris championed.

From its first meeting in a Chicago office to a worldwide network of clubs, Rotary's growth reflects Harris's belief that service above self is not only a motto but a practical philosophy of citizenship. His writings, speeches, and personal example continue to inspire Rotarians and others who seek to align professional success with responsibility to the common good.

Our collection contains 32 quotes who is written by Paul, under the main topics: Ethics & Morality - Wisdom - Justice - Music - Leadership.

• Paul Harris Society: Rotary recognition for donors giving US$1,000+ to The Rotary Foundation each year
• Paul Harris Fellow pin value: Recognition for a US$1,000 donation; resale value is nominal
• Paul Harris religion: Not publicly specified; Rotary is nonsectarian
• Paul Harris wife: Jean Thomson Harris
• Was Paul Harris a Freemason: Yes, member of Garden City Lodge No. 141 (Chicago)
• How old was Paul Harris? He became 78 years old

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