From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians where concerned with promoting high ethical standers in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.

This 24-word text for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all the relations with dealers and the customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The Four-Way Text has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asked the following four questions:

"Of the things we think, say or do: