Most successful people are people who take risks—calculated risks—but nevertheless, risks.
—Indian Proverb
To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
Make the choice adventurous stranger, strike the bell and bide the danger or wonder ’till it drives you mad what would have happened if you had.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
If one has to jump a stream and knows how wide it is, he will not jump. If he does not know how wide it is, he will jump, and six times out of ten he will make it.
—Persian Proverb
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Run for daylight.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Football Coach
The willingness to take risks is our grasp of faith.
—George Edward Woodberry (1855–1930) American Literary Critic, Poet
It is only by risking … that we live at all.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
People that are orthodox when they are young are in danger of being middle-aged all their lives.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
To live differently, to love differently, to think differently, or to try to. Is the danger of beauty so great that it is better to live without it (the standard model)? Or to fall into her arms fire to fire? There is no discovery without risk and what you risk reveals what you value.
—Jeanette Winterson (b.1959) English Novelist, Journalist
If a man is alive, there is always danger that he may die, though the danger must be allowed to be less in proportion as he is dead-and-alive to begin with. A man sits as many risks as he runs.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold.
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) English Polymath, Philosopher, Sociologist, Political Theorist
Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945) British Liberal Statesman
Valour lies just halfway between rashness and cowardice.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
To get profit without risk, experience without danger, and reward without work is as impossible as it is to live without being born.
—A. P. Gouthey
The essence of risk management lies in maximizing the areas where we have some control over the outcome while minimizing the areas where we have absolutely no control over the outcome and the linkage between effect and cause is hidden from us.
—Peter L. Bernstein (1919–2009) American Economist
As Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, Nobel laureate, and supporter of the Tibetan people, “We must understand that there can be no life without risk—and when your spirit is strong, everything else is secondary, even the risks.
—Robert Cooper (b.1947) British Diplomat
To save oneself, one must take risks and struggle.
—Indian Proverb
Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful: yourself.
—Alan Alda (b.1936) American Actor, TV Personality, Screenwriter
If the risk-reward ratio is right, you can make big money buying trouble.
—Unknown
Do not yield to misfortunes, but advance more boldly to meet them, as your fortune permits you.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
If you never budge, don’t expect a push.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
He who stays in the valley will never see over the hill.
—Unknown
Courage is rarely reckless or foolish … courage usually involves a highly realistic estimate of the odds that must be faced.
—Margaret Truman (1924–2008) American Singer, Writer, Historian
When a junior executive lost IBM $10m on a risky venture, Tom Watson, Jr., rejected his offer to resign. “You can’t be serious,” said IBM’s head, “we’ve just spent $10m educating you!”
—Unknown
What is life, but one long risk?
—Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879–1958) American Novelist
Every minute of life I take a risk; it’s part of the enjoyment.
—Otto Preminger (1906–86) American Film Director, Producer
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 a fire is guilty of suicide?
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
You risk just as much in being credulous as in being suspicious.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
If the creator had a purpose in equipping us with a neck, he surely meant us to stick it out.
—Arthur Koestler (1905–83) British Writer, Journalist, Political Refugee