The arena

Seen today...



The galleries are full of critics.

They play no ball.
They fight no fights.
They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing.

Down in the arena are the doers.
They make mistakes because they try things.

The man who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and the
spirit of adventure.
He is the one who never tries anything.
He is the brake on the wheel of progress.

And, yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes,
because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he
tries nothing, does nothing, except criticize those
who do things.

General David M. Shoup

On 2012-06-06 17:46 , DanP wrote:
On Wednesday, June 6, 2012 10:14:14 PM UTC+1, Alan Browne wrote:
Seen today...



The galleries are full of critics.

They play no ball.
They fight no fights.
They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing.

Down in the arena are the doers.
They make mistakes because they try things.

The man who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and the
spirit of adventure.
He is the one who never tries anything.
He is the brake on the wheel of progress.

And, yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes,
because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he
tries nothing, does nothing, except criticize those
who do things.

General David M. Shoup

Sounds like a loose translation of "Man in the arena" by T Roosevelt.
Good stuff.


!

Thanks. I knew something didn't ring true. The TR version is better
and I bet Gen. Shoup was inspired by it.


--
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
-Samuel Clemens.

Alan Browne wrote:
Seen today...



The galleries are full of critics.

They play no ball.
They fight no fights.
They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing.

Down in the arena are the doers.
They make mistakes because they try things.

The man who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and the
spirit of adventure.
He is the one who never tries anything.
He is the brake on the wheel of progress.

And, yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes,
because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he
tries nothing, does nothing, except criticize those
who do things.

General David M. Shoup

It may well be that wisdom lies somewhere
between the straw man reckless fool, who acts
completely without thought, and the straw man
ivory tower thinker, who never acts.

Ya' think?

BugBear

On 2012-06-07 11:14 , bugbear wrote:
Alan Browne wrote:
Seen today...



The galleries are full of critics.

They play no ball.
They fight no fights.
They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing.

Down in the arena are the doers.
They make mistakes because they try things.

The man who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and the
spirit of adventure.
He is the one who never tries anything.
He is the brake on the wheel of progress.

And, yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes,
because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he
tries nothing, does nothing, except criticize those
who do things.

General David M. Shoup

It may well be that wisdom lies somewhere
between the straw man reckless fool, who acts
completely without thought, and the straw man
ivory tower thinker, who never acts.

Ya' think?

I don't know if wisdom lies there but real life certainly does.


--
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
-Samuel Clemens.