Quotations about Risk

Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase - that's what wild geese are for. ~Author Unknown


To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself. ~Soren Kierkegaard


I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. ~Pablo Picasso


When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap. ~Cynthia Heimel, "Lower Manhattan Survival Tactics"


I dip my pen in the blackest ink, because I'm not afraid of falling into my inkpot. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. ~Frederick B. Wilcox


Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is? ~Frank Scully


Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking. ~Tim McMahon


Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at. ~Author Unknown


If you don't take risks, you'll have a wasted soul. ~Drew Barrymore


The fear of being laughed at makes cowards of us all. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960


You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take. ~Wayne Gretzky


I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean. ~G.K. Chesterton


What is more mortifying than to feel you've missed the Plum for want of courage to shake the Tree? ~Logan Pearsall Smith


A ship in harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are for. ~John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic


To eat an egg, you must break the shell. ~Jamaican Proverb


To win you have to risk loss. ~Jean-Claude Killy


The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny. ~Napoleon Bonaparte


If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances. ~Julia Sorel (Rosalyn Drexler), See How She Runs, 1978


Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise. ~Author Unknown


Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy. ~Samuel Johnson


This nation was built by men who took risks - pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, business men who were not afraid of failure, scientists who were not afraid of the truth, thinkers who were not afraid of progress, dreamers who were not afraid of action. ~Brooks Atkinson


The more chance there is of stubbing your toe, the more chance you have of stepping into success. ~Author Unknown


The healthy being craves an occasional wildness, a jolt from normality, a sharpening of the edge of appetite, his own little festival of the Saturnalia, a brief excursion from his way of life. ~Robert MacIver


Of all the people I have ever known, those who have pursued their dreams and failed have lived a much more fulfilling life than those who have put their dreams on a shelf for fear of failure. ~Author Unknown


Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome. ~Samuel Johnson, Rasselas, 1759


Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. ~Robert F. Kennedy


Adventure is what happens when you just did something stupid. ~Professor Bernie


It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. ~Seneca


What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail? ~Robert H. Schuller


You must lose a fly to catch a trout. ~George Herbert


While forbidden fruit is said to taste sweeter, it usually spoils faster. ~Abigail van Buren


The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. ~Lord Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield


Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. ~Author Unknown


If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being? ~Aleksander Solzhenitsyn


Dare to be naive. ~Buckminster Fuller


It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves. ~André Gide


Every man has the right to risk his own life in order to preserve it. Has it ever been said that a man who throws himself out the window to escape from a fire is guilty of suicide? ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau


There are those who are so scrupulously afraid of doing wrong that they seldom venture to do anything. ~Vauvenargues


One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked. ~Chinese Proverb


Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little course, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. ~André Gide


Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. ~James Bryant Conant


You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward. ~James Thurber


We fail more often by timidity than by over-daring. ~David Grayson


Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down. ~Ray Bradbury