Risk-Only A Person Who Risks Is Truely Free

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose your feelings is to risk rejection.
To place your dreams before a crowd is to risk ridicule.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken,

Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, he cannot feel, he cannot change,
He cannot grow, he cannot love, he cannot live.
Chained by his certitudes, he is slave.
Only a person who risks is truly free.

Unknown