It's not the critic that counts

Thoughts from Theodore Roosevelt:

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 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.


I linger on these words that I happened to have read somewhere today. In a way, it is absolutely true. At every given time, it is the journey which counts more than the destination. In our life, at each point, we do embark on one odyssey or the other. Some that we always wish to go for and some that we never imagine that we will be forced to go through. It is these unexpected popping up of surprises which perhaps make life worth living. And as I always say, God is the ultimate planner. And when he chalks out the itinerary, one can be cocksure that things will never go wrong.
So, keep smiling.


Manjiri