Monday, March 23, 2009

A week with Teddy...

My favorite quote...outside of the bible is from our 26th President.   Theodore Roosevelt made success look easy but in a speech from the Sorbonne in 1910 he summed up the cost of striving and moving forward.  It turned out to be one of the most quoted speeches in history.  

So here I am quoting it for you...and myself included.

"It is not the critic who counts; 
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where to doer of deeds could have done 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 up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming,
but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, 
who spends himself for a worthy cause;
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 knew neither victory nor defeat."

So often we want to do something great (at least in our eyes) and we let others around us take us down before we even start.  Don't be a cold and timid soul...get out there and  dare great and might things.

Strive for the worthy causes in your life and leave the judging and criticism to someone else. Get out into the arena of life.

2 comments:

nilliebillie said...

It's been a while and you are killing me. I didn't know you were a history fan. I love this post because I often get marred by the critic.

Ted A. Brooks said...

I have read this verse often and it is one of my favorites. In that today is my first day to travel the blogging universe, your site is special to me in that it is one of the first I have read. So amazing.
Angel Blessings