Roosevelt - Person (man) in the arena

I have always liked this quote of Theodore Roosevelt taken from his speech - Citizen in a Republic. It reminds me, as much as criticism can sting - the very thought of it often enough to make writers, artists, sportswomen and men (among others) hesitate - it comes from the safety of the sidelines. It helps to change my mindset and to recall the title of a well known book - Feel the fear and do it anyway!

NB - I have taken the liberty of updating his language to suit our more enlightened times.

It is not the critic who counts; not the person who points out how the strong stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the person 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 spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if they fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Sorbonne, Paris on April 23, 1910