It shows how far we have fallen.
It is long. It is dense. It takes a while to read and absorb.
This can actually be my criticism of his writing though, in that although he references and acknowledges GOD, Christian virtues, etc...Roosevelt was quite the humanist and a product of his time in this sense: placing faith in science and progress of the human race often at the expense of the humility that comes with understanding our sin and need for spiritual salvation. (He never veered off into Marxist utopianism though obviously.)
And here is the central quote from the speech above. Classic!
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.
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.
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Rereading this well known passage brings to mind our President Trump “in the arena” and his many critics (sadly, including some FReepers —hopefully disheartened only temporarily) outside the arena.
pompous, full of his intelectual righteous, no?
Click It!