“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.”
Theodore Roosevelt – Excerpt from the speech “Citizenship In A Republic”
delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910
I love this quote. It reminds me that it is good to try and fail, in fact failing is where the best learnings come from in life. When you scratch the surface all successful people have had some big failures, learnt some hard lessons and indeed have a number of battle scars.
My heroes and mentors are all people who have done hard and risky actions……emphasis on action. The Ed Hillary’s, the Neil Armstrongs, Buzz Aldrins, Winston Churchills, Nelson Mandelas on the world. People who faced adversity, lead from the front and made it happen. Not the commentators, analysts or knockers.
What are your thoughts?
Leading from the front 