An Interesting Quote... -- Self, Soc

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An interesting and perhaps inspirational quote from the late American President Teddy Roosevelt occurs to me in the context of developing one's own human (or superhuman) potential.

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 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 short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows 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.

So much of the criticism of even the most mild, mundane of methods for human enhancement seems driven by one emotion -- fear. Fear, jealousy and a certain comfort with the way things are rather than a consideration of how they could one day be...

These are some of the strongest barriers to human achievement, and some of the greatest reasons why the future always belongs to the young -- not simply because they are going to be alive longer than the rest of us, but because they are already on that journey to a new place, and have no choice but to consider what road they intend to travel. Small children dream about being astronauts or cowboys/girls or actresses or musicians because they know they won't be living in the same "place" forever. They can see themselves changing, and so the idea of changing into someone awesome, of seizing the stars themselves isn't a dream they've been taught properly to ignore.

Perhaps that's a lesson the rest of us might care to forget.


Future Imperative