If one took no chances, one would not fly at all. Safety lies in the judgment of the chances one takes. That judgment, in turn, must rest upon one’s outlook on life. Any coward can sit in his home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in fog. But I would rather, by far, die on a mountainside than in bed.
—Charles Lindbergh
You cannot find peace by avoiding life.
—Virginia Woolf
Far too many people opened their hearts and lives at the drop of a hat. Why give someone that power over you? Why endow them with the ability to hurt you that much? Let someone in and you were asking for an emotional kicking some day.
—Dorothy Koomson in My Best Friend’s Girl
Life can be about taking chances and finding really great things and yes, failing sometimes. Or it can be about wondering what if because you never dared to try.
—Lauren Dane in Giving Chase
How many people have gotten older and forgotten about the things they hoped for and dreamed about when they were young? Or given up without ever taking a chance, or settled in life because it’s easier, or they’re scared, or whatever other excuses? How many people need a reminder of who they once were?
—Jessi Kirby in Golden
It's a dangerous business going out your front door.
—J. R. R. Tolkien
Sometimes pain and hurt are good things because it means you strived for something in your life.
—Kathryn Vance-Perez in Love and Truth
You risked your life, but what else have you ever risked? Have you risked disapproval? Have you ever risked economic security? Have you ever risked a belief? I see nothing particularly courageous about risking one’s life. So you lose it, you go to your hero’s heaven and everything is milk and honey ’til the end of time. Right? You get your reward and suffer no earthly consequences. That’s not courage. Real courage is risking something that might force you to rethink your thoughts and suffer change and stretch consciousness. Real courage is risking one’s clichés.
—Tom Robbins
A liberal is a person whose interests aren't at stake at the moment.
—Willis Player
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
—Voltaire
A woman is like a tea bag—you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
—Eleanor Roosevelt
No great art has ever been made without the artist having known danger.
—Rainer Maria Rilke
Look twice before you leap.
—Charlotte Bronte
Condoms aren't completely safe. A friend of mine was wearing one and got hit by a bus.
—Bob Rubin
If you don't try at anything, you can't fail. It takes back bone to lead the life you want.
—Richard Yates in Revolutionary Road