Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Heminway, sculpture by Jane DeDecker
“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.” –Teddy Roosevelt
Some thoughts from Roy Williams on Teddy Roosevelt’s famous quote:
In Hemingway’s Nobel Prize-winning story, the old man, Santiago, tries valiantly, suffers mightily, makes all the right decisions and catches the magnificent fish… only to see it eaten by sharks before he can get it home. Did he succeed or fail?
Snowflake image by Wilson A. Bentley, 1890
Santiago saw the snowflake. Hemingway saw the snowflake. Roosevelt saw the snowflake.
What do you think? Do you focus on the failure or the success?
Change Your Life for Good - CYL4G 