The Man in the Arena

It is not the critic who counts. It is not the man
who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have them better.
The credit goes to the man who is actually
in the arena, whose face is marred
by dust and blood and sweat; 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.

Theodore Roosevelt