04 03 2006 It is not the critic who counts
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 and comes short again and again; because there is not
effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the
great enthusiasm, the great devotion, 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 he fails while
daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt, "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910