It’s been over a century since President Theodore Roosevelt delivered his inspiring “Citizenship in a Republic” speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1910.

Considered by many to be the greatest speech ever delivered on the topics of courage, skill and tenacity, it’s more commonly known as “The Man in the Arena Speech” because of one particular stirring passage where Roosevelt famously extols the “doer of deeds” and those who “strive valiantly” in a “worthy cause.”

The famous passage

Recently I had the opportunity to reread “The Man in the Area,” and I’m happy to report it lives up to its reputation. While the entire speech is almost 9,000 words, the most famous passage is much shorter, only 137 words:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points outs how the strong

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