The Man in the Arena

The Man in the Arena - Teddy Roosevelt
Artwork by yours truly

In light of graduation season and Father’s Day (which is just around the corner), I thought I would share this famous excerpt from a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt. It is both an excellent charge to this year’s graduates and also a motivating word for fathers.

“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.”

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