Dare Mighty Things

“In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done 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 and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at best knows at the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, winner of the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize

I love a great quote, and this is absolutely one of my very favorites. We all know Teddy Roosevelt was President of the United States, but he did so much more. Despite suffering from asthma at a time when there was no effective treatment, Roosevelt became an outdoors man and naturalist, adventuring to Africa, Europe and South America. He was an historian, conservationist and influential advocate of military preparedness as America faced involvement in the first world war. We have him to thank for our wonderful national part system.He won a Pulitzer Prize for a biography of his presidential years. His lifetime accomplishments are extraordinary.

I’m a huge admirer of Teddy Roosevelt. I admire him because he didn’t just talk about doing great things. He actually did them. I’m sure he made plenty of mistakes along the way, but he didn’t let them stop him from living his life to the absolute fullest, didn’t let them bar the way towards a worthy goal. There’s a place in the world for Dreamers, but it’s the Do-ers that change the world.

© 2016 Janet Lentz