THE MAN IN THE ARENAExcerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic"
delivered by Teddy Roosevelt at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910
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.
shared by John Owens, #86
Class of '72
Jamestown, NY
An added comment from John...
Those words always touch me to my core. Anyone who truly has competed knows exactly what they mean, when one gives their full measure, successful or not, and then continually goes back to the well with the effort to get it right. I feel that it is the essence of what Coach taught me and all my brother Gray Eagles, what we all continue to carry in our hearts and efforts today and why we still give homage to that great man, so much more than a football coach. It is what separates us from those who have never run the course but think they know the game.