Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “man in the arena” passage remains one of his most enduring reflections on courage, effort and failure. In his 1910 speech “Citizenship in a Republic”, delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris, Roosevelt said: “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.” His words argue that the person who takes action, accepts mistakes and continues striving deserves more credit than the critic who remains safely outside the arena.
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