Risks

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to rsk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is
to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope 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 and is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or live.
Chained by the certitudes, he is a slave; he has forfeited his freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.

-AUTHOR UNKNOWN