The Man In The Arena Poem by John F. McCullagh

The Man in the Arena



Find what you love, to that be true

Care less for what “they“ think of you.

Follow your internal muse

Dare to take risks and pay your dues.



Some such succeed and triumphs gain,

Others strive but all in vain.-

For both their place can never be

Out in the dark periphery.



In the end our lives are spent

Pursing dreams or paying rent

The choice is ours to play our role

Don’t be a cold and timid soul.



Though our faces be marred by dust and sweat

we are the ones they won't forget.

Not the faceless critic in his seat

who knows neither victory nor defeat
J.M.






“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 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 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 know neither victory nor defeat.”-President Theodore Roosevelt