THE MAN IN THE ARENA
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
I'll bet old Teddy wasn't a football fan, lol.
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
1910 France, and a great speech. Required reading for all incoming freshman at the Naval Academy.
Way back when in one of my Poly-Sci classes, my professor said of this speech: There are many arenas in the world, some more public than others. We must never assume the critic in one arena isn't fighting his own battles in another.
Those words stuck with me. Thanks for sharing.
1910 France, and a great speech. Required reading for all incoming freshman at the Naval Academy.
Way back when in one of my Poly-Sci classes, my professor said of this speech: There are many arenas in the world, some more public than others. We must never assume the critic in one arena isn't fighting his own battles in another.
Those words stuck with me. Thanks for sharing.
I was not aware of where the speech was made. Thanks for the info.
@psugrad81 Â have a safe trip up to the game 81 and have fun hope we get the win.
@psugrad81 No worries, it's a speech that everyone should read in its entirety... truly great stuff and very glad you shared 😀
Roam, thank you for pointing me to that speech. I found the complete text. It was not an easy read. If a politician made a speech like that today, no on would be listening by the third paragraph. It would definitely no work for a sound bite for the six o'clock news. Thanks again
