It is not the critic who counts;
not those who point out where our strong people stumbled
or when the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena.
Whose faces are marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strive valiantly
who err and come short again and again;
who know great enthusiasms;
who at best know the triumph of of high achievement;
and who at worst if they fall, at least fall while daring greatly.
So that their place will never be with those cold and timid souls,
who know neither victory nor defeat.
This is an inspirational piece by Theodore Roosevelt.
It is indeed only those who are in the arena who really count.
Loads of folks today have the tendency to ride the waves, skim the surface and never really dare take a position. It must be quite lonely to neither experience victory nor failure.
A key leadership mantra - take a position, be counted, enjoy the outcome, learn from it.
