Experience 1
Text 2
Theodore Roosevelt is best known as the twenty sixth President of the United States, but this dynamic (প্রগতিশীল), multi-talented (বহুদিকে মেধাবী), charismatic man became a hero to millions of Americans for many other reasons. Theodore Roosevelt gave his ‘Citizenship in a Republic Speech’ on April 23, 1910, at the Sorbonne in Paris. The speech is famous for Roosevelt’s thoughts (ভাবনা) about the duties and responsibilities (দায়িত্ব) of both the state to citizens and citizens to the state (রাষ্ট্র). The speech emphasizes (জোর দেওয়া) the importance of action and striving (প্রচেষ্টা) towards worthy (দামি) goals in life over idle criticism, laziness and inaction (আলস্য).
A country’s success, Roosevelt stated (বলেন), depends on disciplined work and character, and democracies (সাম্যবাদ) require (লাগা) leaders of the best character to hold all citizens to the highest standards. This is what he said:
‘It is not the critic (সমালোচক) who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles (হোঁচট খায়) or where the doer of deeds (কাজ) could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena (কর্মক্ষেত্র), whose face is marred (নষ্ট করা) by dust and sweat (ঘাম) and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs (ভুল করে), and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming (ক্রটি); but who does actually strive (সংগ্রাম করা) to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms (উদ্দীপনা), the great devotions (ভক্তি); who spends himself in a worthy (মূল্যবান) cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph (জয়লাভ করে) of high achievement (কৃতিত্ব) 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.
ইকবাল খান, প্রভাষক, বীরশ্রেষ্ঠ মুন্সী আব্দুর রউফ পাবলিক কলেজ, ঢাকা