Taking Risks

"To Laugh is to risk appearing the fool, To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.To reach out to another is to risk involvement.To Express feeling is to risk expressing your true self.To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk their loss.To love is to risk 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/She may avoid suffering or sorrow,but he simply cannot learn,fell, change,love,grow,live.Chained by his certitudes,he is a slave,he has forfeited freedom.Only a person who risks is free." -Edgar Gibson, Jr.