Optimist Club of Erie

“Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.” This is the opening line of The Optimist Creed, a pledge that is recited by Optimists at the conclusion of each meeting. It includes 10 resolutions that help inspire members, as well as non-Optimists, to simply try to become a better person.

What is interesting about the Creed is that its author didn’t create the text specifically for Optimists. Christian D. Larson wrote “Promise Yourself” that was included in his book titled “Your Forces and How to Use Them.” Written in 1912, the book’s theme of “you can do anything you want to do if you only set your heart and mind to it” reflects the intentions of Optimists.

Seven years after “Promise Yourself” first appeared, the Optimist organization was officially established. In its early days, members were searching for a slogan, creed or motto to follow. It just so happened that the wife of a member from the Optimist Club of Los Angeles clipped a small item from a news publication and gave it to her husband, Jim Westervelt. He read it over and over and recognized the relevance it had to Optimism. Jim reprinted this item in his club’s yearbook and distributed copies while the club tried to form new Optimist clubs. It found its way into the Optimist magazine in 1921 and by the next year’s International Convention, almost every delegate had a copy of that news clipping—“Promise Yourself."

From that point on, it was adopted as The Optimist Creed and has been translated into numerous languages.