Zen Pencils by Gavin Aung Than for November 08, 2021
November 01, 2021
November 15, 2021
Transcript:
This is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled. Or where the doer or deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man 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
T.R. exemplified his philosophy when, at the advanced age of 55 after serving two terms as POTUS and failing in his attempt at a third term, he undertook an expedition to traverse a major tributary of the Amazon River that had never been charted previously. It took almost six months of countless treacherous situations that nearly cost him his life but he survived albeit losing a third of his body weight. On a lighter note, the Teddy bear, that became a favorite children’s companion, was named after T.R. after he refused to shoot a black bear while on a hunting trip in Mississippi because to do so would have been “unsportsmanlike”.