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
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumph even though
checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither
enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows
not victory or defeat....
