Success
“To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet and writer
“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 them 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 triumphs 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 know neither defeat nor victory.”
The above was written by Theodore Roosevelt, a sickly, asthmatic child who later rose to President of the U.S. from 1901 – 1909; he was equally known for his military service, as a member of the U.S. cavalry force known as “The Rough Riders” which he led during the Battle of San Juan Hill within the Spanish-American War of 1898, later earning the Medal of Honor.
