Be the Man in the Arena

Theodore Roosevelt once said that: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, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; 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.

While good criticism is essential to challenge those in the arena to excel, don’t make the mistake that when the critic speaks of what man should do that it was possible or that the man in the arena failed because he did not achieve the critic’s should.  Stand in the arena and battle as best you can.  Regardless of your success, there will be critics-all of whom have avoided the arena.

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@2 years ago