“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 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 and comes up short again and again,
because there is no effort without error or shortcoming,
but who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions, who spends himself for 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 he fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
~Theodore Roosevelt – From “Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Very moving quote. Teddy Roosevelt is one of the best Presidents we’ve had and he was one the founders of the modern progressive movement. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, I love this one too! Glad you enjoyed it.
If only we had more people like him working hard for our country rather than against it and for every other country that has their hands out. I may not believe in everything he stood for, but at least you knew where you stood with him and he didn’t hold back how he felt.