Risks

"To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose one's feelings is to risk rejection.

To place your dreams before the 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.

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 sufferings and sorrows, But he cannot learn, Feel, change, grow, or love. Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave. He has forfeited his freedom. Only a person who takes risks is free."

-- Leo Buscalia

“A loving relationship is one in which the loved one is free to be himself

-- to laugh with me, but never at me;

to cry with me, but never because of me;

to love life, to love himself, to love being loved. Such a relationship is based upon freedom and can never grow in a jealous heart.”