It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, 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 the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
—Theodore Roosevelt, from an address called “Citizenship in a Republic” given at the Sorbonne, April 23, 1910.
重要的不是批评家，而是指出强者如何绊倒的人，或行为人能做得更好的人。信用属于真正在竞技场的人；他们的脸被尘土、汗水和血迹所笼罩；他们勇敢地奋斗；谁又犯又短又一次；谁知道伟大的热情，伟大的献身精神，在一个有价值的事业上花费自己；谁在最好的时候，知道在什么地方。结束高成就的胜利，最坏的是，如果他失败了，至少在大胆地失败时失败，这样他的地位就永远不会和那些既不胜利也不失败的冷酷无情的灵魂在一起。
西奥多·罗斯福，1910年4月23日在索邦的一个名为“共和国公民身份”的演讲。（谷歌翻译仅供参考）