“The Man in the Arena” – a timeless passage about critics…

On April 23, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech titled “Citizenship In A Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris. It contained the following famous passage:

“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.”

We all get consumed by our inherent need to complain but it appears that President Theodore Roosevelt had it right. A little food for thought in a day where complaining and whining seem to be out of control…so the next time someone complains about something, have them read this passage and maybe something positive will be accomplished.

For the complete “Citizenship In A Republic” speech click on the following link:
http://www.leadershipnow.com/tr-citizenship.html