It's Not The Critic That Counts

I live by this quote. I strive to be all in embodies. My Father shared it with me long ago.

"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 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."

 

"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

The first time I read it i thought, yes. All the people who have something negative to say about your art, your dreams, your goals, they don't count. They are not out there trying. They don't get the credit. 

Later in life I read it and thought, yes. Of course people can criticize and give opinions when you fail, but these are the same people who will take credit when you succeed.

Now when I read it I think, YES. I would rather fail, while daring greatly, then never try at all.

What about you?