“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;…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
This quote resonates deeply with me, as I am someone who does not shy away from failure. The word failure has become almost like a curse word — no wants to fail, no one wants to be a failure. People seem to think that once you fail, that failure will define you and that you could never succeed again.
This is absolutely false.
When you fail, that means you had the courage to try something. Roosevelt’s speech, the passage commonly referred to as “The Man in the Arena,” talks of critics who easily judge those who actually put in the effort. Failing, and recovering from failure, takes tenacity and skill. I would much rather work with, and hire, people who have failed spectacularly than someone who played it safe their whole life. With failure comes humility and wisdom, as they’ve experienced the bitterness of their results, grew from it, and made a choice to keep going.
Pay no attention to those who sit on the sidelines and judge, who don’t even have the courage to try.
- Soo Koo
