In The Arena

One of Theodore Roosevelt's most famous quotes inspired the name of this blog:
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. 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, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who 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 neither know victory nor defeat.
Roosevelt delivered these words as part of his speech, Citizenship in the Republic, at La Sorbonne on April 23, 1910. The famous "man in the arena" portion needs little updating for the 21st Century, so I've named this blog in honor of the distinction the passage identifies: to analyze and critique elected officials from outside the political arena in which they function is far different from being that elected official who must analyze and make decisions from inside that arena.


While being in the political arena as an elected official is as much a choice as it ever was, maybe even more so now than it was in Roosevelt's time, this observation about choice only intensifies the distinction defined by Roosevelt.

I've not even been sworn in yet for my first term as a member of the Pepper Pike City Council, and yet this new, added POV of being inside the arena has affected me. I expect this blog to be a chronicle of just how so.

8 comments:

Gloria Ferris said...

Great name for the blog, Jill. So glad there will be a chronicle of your journey as a councilperson, wife, mother and YOU because you have so much to offer and give so freely.

Thank you!

Jill said...

Thanks so much, Gloria. We'll see how it goes!!

Tim Ferris said...

I think we have a lot in common with Roosevelt's times; I keep looking back and seeing they (locally, Newton D. Baker, for instance) were on the right track, before the community dialogues got hijacked by the same interests that gave us the IRS, the Federal Reserve, and a couple of messy World Wars. Let's see if we can pick it up where they left off and continue the pursuit of a balanced America.

Jill said...

I like the way you think, Tim. ;) And I didn't even realize, until I was re-reading this post, that the 100th anniversary of this speech is this April. Wow.

Sandy Piderit said...

Congratulations, Jill! I may pick your brain if I ever decide to run for office out here in California... school board is a possibility in my future.

Jill said...

Sandy, you should definitely run! You would be great. Definitely hit me up with any questions at all. If you use Skype, we could do that. Have a great 2010 and email me anytime. All the best to your family.

Tracy said...

Nice Jill! I hope your comments don't end up needing a lot of moderation. Level headed commenters are the best gift any politician-blogger can receive.

Jill said...

Hi Tracy, thanks for checking this out. I agree - I have gone back and forth on how to manage comments but mostly I'm just going to see how it goes. I didn't even have a section like above the comment box on Blogger that I have here at this blog over at Writes Like She Talks so hopefully it sets a tone. I'll be chronicling that too. ;)