The Arena

One of the speeches that has inspired me over the years is Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech from 1910. Here’s the most famous passage from that speech:

“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.” ( Source)

Set aside the gender excluding language that was common in 1910, and you have a speech that I think speaks to this time and place in a few ways. And a speech that needs some serious revision. For one, it addresses the need to act and speak up, regardless of the cost. Those that value their own comfort over speaking up and competing in the arena of the world don’t receive much respect from Roosevelt. Silence might save you for a short time, but eventually it’s quite costly.

Second, Roosevelt acknowledges a difficult reality for most people to embrace — that you might not pull off what you hope to achieve. In fact, you might…