"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

— "The Strenuous Life," speech before the Hamilton Club, Chicago (10 April 1899)

Verified public speech.

"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."

— "Citizenship in a Republic," speech at the Sorbonne, Paris (23 April 1910)

Opening of the Man in the Arena passage.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."

— "Citizenship in a Republic," speech at the Sorbonne, Paris (23 April 1910)

Core Man in the Arena line.