The "Aspirations of an Altrusan" were written by Mamie Luella Bass, our first National President. Mamie was a member of the Indianapolis, IN Altrusa club and editor of the Indianapolis weekly newsletter titled "The Altrusan." She wrote on many topics while she was editor, with the "Aspirations of an Altrusan" being one of the most famous. It was written in the edition dated May 22, 1924.
~Anne Condran, Historian
Altrusa Centennial Convention, 2017
“Let me be always open-minded, that I may recognize good for Altrusa wherever it may be.
“Let me be ready always to put aside my personal opinions for the greater good, for the greater number. Let me see principles and not personalities, and, discerning them, let me serve them wholeheartedly through every cloud of doubt and discouragement.
“Let me have faith still that the voice of the majority is the voice of good, and let me lend myself to the working out sincerely of what the majority chooses. Knowing that the organization is but the individual multiplied by many and that the organization reflects not only the constructive good, but also the mistaken ideals, the short-sightedness, the failures of the individual, let me still adhere to the will of the majority, knowing that time will reveal the better way and lead our footsteps aright if we tread with purer motives and unselfish hearts.
“Let me be conscious of the shortcomings, the mistakes, the failures of myself and my associates, only that I may learn to correct them, and let me rather see with uplifted face and stalwart soul the unblemished beauty, the high ideal, of the spirit of Altrusa, who lives upon the earth to uplift women to higher things, to make real in business and in our daily lives the things of the spirit. Let me not dream and write and talk of noble things, but give me rather the strength to live them in the smallest act wherein it is mine to serve.
“Let me be patient in defeat and humble in success. Let me seek not for rewards, for appreciation, or even for understanding, but let me seek rather to do the work that lies before me, and to find in the right doing of that work the joy and satisfaction that passes understanding, until too I may say, ‘I know what pleasure is, for I have done good work.’
~Mamie L. Bass, First written for the Indianapolis Altrusan Club Bulletin in 1926