The Man in the Arena

During some sparce moments of clarity in an otherwise chaotic few years, Jamie Dimon (CEO of JP Morgan), sent Paulson a note quoting an excerpt of a very famous speech 'Citizen in  a Republic' by President Roosevelt.

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.

What is interesting is there is no mention of whether the hero succeded or failed. Its almost as if President Roosevelt didn't consider that to be the central notion of his argument. What mattered is the one who tries, no matter how many times he falls he gets up and tries again. That man who struggles, fearless of consequences, is ultimately better off than those thousands of men who never bothered to take a chance.

This brought to mind a passage from the Gita, where Krishna tells Arjun - do your duty and do it to the best of your ability. The consequence doesn't matter, what matters is the here and now. That's the way to salvation.