The Man In The Arena - Centennial Business Encouragement
One of our art directors at MLT Creative, Sean Borja heard on NPR this morning that today is the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt's speech which included the fa
mous quote about "The Man In The Arena."
Sean knows I love this quote and have it hanging on my wall across from my desk. I can't help but look at it every day and a while back I wrote a blog post entitled Doer. In the article I explain why the quote has meaning for me beyond the truly inspiring words it delivers.
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.
I think the man himself was an American Treasure and I believe these words are a timeless kick-in-the-behind for any entrepreneur who needs to be reminded to buck up, take defeats along with victories and never quit learning from both.
I'm also sharing a link to the original speech in it's entirety as it was delivered on April 23, 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.
Billy Mitchell is the president and senior creative director of Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative. Located on the east side of Atlanta, GA, with a Northeast office in Rhode Island, Mitchell co-founded MLT Creative in 1984 along with partners Craig Lindberg and Glenn Taylor.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.