The reader is probably not aware that I receive daily emails from a blog known as "The Art of Manliness." Today's email was a real gem and I couldn't let it pass. It was a quote from a speech by Theodore Roosevelt, one of my favorite past presidents.
"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."
Those who know me know that I have a pretty big manliness complex. I hate it when people call me a boy (because I'm a man, not a boy) and I really hate being called cute or sensitive, because those are not masculine words. That being the case, this quote rang very true to me.
I really like how he says that it isn't the people who are critical who count, but the ones who are actually out doing things that are the true great men, and I suppose that this could go for women as well. We have to try, we have to be doing something, and even if we fall short, there is NO effort without error and shortcoming, and even if we do fail in our endeavors, we've at least tried, and our place will never be with those who were to afraid to even do that.
Essentially, this tells me yet again that Theodore Roosevelt was a genius, and whatever bad things we may learn about him in history classes, which seem to try to discredit all amazing historical figures, this man was a man with a head on his shoulders, who, if nothing else, knew what it means to be a true man.
Can I apply this to dating? If I fail (at getting married, let's say), at least I failed while doing greatly (i.e. going on lots of dates, falling hard for guys, etc.). Okay, I just had to post this comment, because this is the feminine counterpart to your "manly" ways.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if dating would be exactly the feminine counterpart. Perhaps cooking, or raising children. :) Okay, so that was chauvinist. I do see some parallels there, Julie.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite blog post yet! And of course you aren't sensitive. You are understanding...maybe. ;)
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