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 up 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.

More quotes by Theodore Roosevelt

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"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Vision

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Determination

"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Belief in Self

"The leader leads, and the boss drives."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Leadership

"When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Adversity

More Courage Quotes

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"The greatest strength lies in vulnerability."

- Beauty and the Beast

Courage

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

- Mark Twain

Courage

"I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me."

- Tracee Ellis Ross

Courage

"If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough."

- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Courage

"Courage, dear heart."

- C.S. Lewis

Courage