As you all know, I am a member in full standing of the brotherhood of fools. This is our day. In honor of that, I would like to point out that the key trademark of fools is that we are not averse to risk. We tread where wise men dare not go. We take the risks…in honor of that and dedicated to all my fellow fools, I offer the following quotes on risk. Live large fools, for tomorrow we will surely die.
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
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
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
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
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