After his junior year in high school, my brother attended the Naval Academy’s Summer Seminar, a six-day program designed to give participants a taste of what it’s like to attend the academy. My brother said it was both the most difficult and most rewarding thing he’d ever done. But of all the takeaways from the week, his favorite was from Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 “Citizenship in a Republic” speech. This is the excerpt he had to memorize:
When my brother shared “The Man in the Arena” with us, it struck a nerve with me too, and I’ve returned to it again and again over the years for inspiration. Who among us doesn’t occasionally need a reminder to take a chance, go for it and leave the path of “those cold and timid souls”?
One of my most popular posts on this blog featured an inspirational quote from Ira Glass. Because people were so drawn to that post, I’m starting an occasional “Wise words” series and this is the first post. Join in by sharing your favorite inspirational quote in the comments section below.
Filed under: Wise Words Tagged: | leadership, quotes, risk, Theodore Roosevelt
Great post! I really like to fact that you are starting a “Wise Words” series – something short and to the point. As far as afavorite quote, one of the ones that I like is “If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it” – Albert Einstein. Many times it takes an idea to be crazy in order to be innovation, or maybe, just maybe it can be the most simplest idea and still be able to impact the world.
Thanks, Ana Maria! I love that Einstein quote! He has so many great ones, but that one is actually new to me, so thank you for sharing it!