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 expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self;
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk 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 at all is to risk failure;
But risk we must.
Because the greatest hazard to life is to risk nothing.
The man who risks nothing
Does nothing…
Has nothing…
Is nothing…
He may avoid suffering…
But he simply cannot
Learn, feel, change, grow
Love or live.
Chained by his certitudes,
He is a slave.
He has fortified
Freedom.
Only the person
Who risks
Can be
Called
Free.