Resumo de Value Of Risk

Some years ago a society was started in England
with the purpose of teaching children and adults practical ways of taking care
of themselves, avoiding accidents, and safeguarding their health. It took as
its motto, ?Safety first!? Kept within proper limits, the idea was a good one;
for caution, prudence and carefulness are necessary virtues. But they can be
carried to excess, and than they become vices-timidity, selfishness and meanness.
For after all, safety is not the most important thing in life, and it is a
mistake to put it first.

It has not been the
safe, prudent and cautious people who have helped forward the progress of
mankind, so much as the adventurous-the pioneers who, taking their lives in their
hands, have explored unknown lands, discovered new truths, and led the van of
progress.

If the motto of
Christopher Columbus had been ?Safety first!? America
would never have been discovered. Thinking little of safety, he dared much, and
at the risk of losing his life and all, set out in a cockle-shell across an
unknown ocean.

If prophets like
Buddha, Jesus Christ and Muhammad had put safety first, the world would never
have been lifted near God by their great teachings and religion. They were
content to face persecution and lose all for what they believed to be the
truth.

If Dr.Simpson had
thought of his own safety, countless sufferers would have died, or at best had
to suffer agonies under the surgeon?s knife. The story of his discovery of chloroform
is a romance of medical science. He had been for long experimenting with
various drugs in his search for an anesthetic, when one evening he and to
friends decided y the effects of chloroform on themselves. They did not know
what the effects of the fumes would be, but they knew they might be fatal. Yet
they deliberately inhaled them, and became unconscious. From this dangerous
experiment came the discovery of the merciful anesthetic that enable surgeons
to perform their surgery safely, this was impossible before its discovery.

So, in business life,
it is enterprise, the willingness to take risks, the adventurous spirit that
leads to the building up of great concerns and great fortunes.

Any man who wants
to win fame, wealth, power or position, or longs to abolish public abuses,
introduce reforms, or accomplish any great purpose, must be prepared to take
risks. The timid, hesitating, over-cautious person will get little out of life;
but the daring and adventurous will get much. This does not mean that rashness
and fool-hardness are good things, for a wise prudence is necessary in the most
daring adventure : but it does mean that if you venture nothing, you will have
nothing.

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