April 23, 1910: TR’s “Man in the Arena” speech

On this day in 1910, Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech titled “Citizenship In A Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris. It contained the following famous passage, parts of which find their way into my conversations quite frequently:

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.

In an age of social media, when anonymous couch potatoes give themselves license to mock Jeopardy! contestants who finish in the red or give an awkward-sounding response, “The Man in the Arena” is more relevant than ever.

You think you can do better? the noted badass might ask you. Then put your money where your mouth is.

To anyone snarking Stephanie and Brad: you had better ace the #JeopardyOnlineTest soon. Put up or shut up. It wasn’t a good game for anyone.

— Kristin Sausville (@ksausville) March 13, 2015

Roosevelt, who had served as president from 1901-1909, would return to politics in 1912 to seek an unprecedented third term. As the Republican nomination was captured by his successor, William Howard Taft, Roosevelt and others formed the Progressive Party. Roosevelt’s comment that he was “fit as a bull moose” gave the party its more popular nickname.

You can read the full text of “Citizenship in a Republic” here.