Daring Greatly

Posted by DJL on Nov 3, 2012 in Poetry | 1 comment

Today’s poem is, well, not a poem. Rather, it is a portion of a speech given by Teddy Roosevelt at the Sorbonne, in Paris, in 1910. I was introduced to it by reading Brene Brown’s recent book, Daring Greatly, which is not only a fantastic read but whose title is inspired by Roosevelt’s measured and even metered speech.

I thought of it today as we approach the end of the election cycle and an opportunity to exercise our civic right and responsibility to vote. After so many accusations…and promises…and attempts to blame others…and calculated presentations of oneself and all the rest, I have to say that the men and women I want to vote for are the candidates who are ready to enter the arena and give it their all. The ones, that is, who will not be changing positions or platforms at each turn, shaping themselves into more attractive candidates but who will come forth as themselves, ready to stake their claims, take responsibility for their mistakes, shoulder their responsibilities, and dare great things whether they succeed or fail.

What I want, I guess, is integrity.

You will be making your own decision soon for your own reasons, but as you read Roosevelt’s lines,* I’d invite you to allow them to inspire you to want and expect more from our leaders – all of our leaders – than the media barrage we’ve endured of late suggests we should expect. And in the meantime, make sure you get out to vote.

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 better.
The credit belongs to the man [or woman] who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again,
because there is no effort without error or shortcoming,
but who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions,
who spends himself for 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 he fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who knew neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, from “Citizenship in a Republic,”
 a speech delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910.
*While Roosevelt’s speech contains the ubiquitous reference to “man” that was characteristic of his age, let’s thankfully agree that both men and women can now dare great things in the arena of life.