It's the man in the arena who counts, not the critic

Marc Cenedella got straight to the point on his blog for July 4th with a quote that is not only a favorite but listed on my Facebook page of quotations:

The 4th of July is a good time to reflect on these words from a great American:

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.

That’s Teddy Roosevelt speaking at the Sorbonne a century ago in 1910.
Some truths are timeless: The critics, your critics, will always be there, lurking and worthless.

Go for it!

H/T to Shaun Kenney