Quotes About Risk

Bill Black is said to be one of the most experienced helicopter pilots in the world, and he needs to be. He sits like a cuddly old curmudgeon hunched over his joystick and chews gum slowly and continuously as he flies his helicopter directly at sheer cliff faces to see if you'll scream.

Flare riding is one of the most exotic and exhilarating sports in existence, and those who can dare and afford to do it are among the most lionized men in the Galaxy. It is also of course stupefyingly dangerous—those who don't die riding invariably die of sexual exhaustion at one of the Daedalus Club's Après-Flare parties.

He had had a nasty feeling that that might be an idiotic thing to do, but he did it anyway, and sure enough it had turned out to be an idiotic thing to do. You live and learn. At any rate, you live. You also panic.

1. YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS Youth is a cliff. You leap, and repair the broken bones later. When you're older, you draw the map, retrace your steps and find the cliff's edge again to wonder: Would anyone ever jump if they knew how far down it went? I jumped, once. I'm broken in unseen places.

Do you ever just want to take your car out onto the highway and gun the engine as fast as you can and then close your eyes and see what happens?

Life need not be a story, but it does need to be an adventure.

Life is a bowl of chainsaws.

The dangers of exploring Mosquitia go beyond the natural deterrents. Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Eighty percent of the cocaine from South America destined for the United States is shipped through Honduras, most of it via Mosquitia.

Manuel is a superb engineer with no imagination whatsoever, which makes him doubly dangerous - talent married to convention.

Carpe diem. ¿Quién sabe lo que nos traerá el mañana?

This was my number 17 on the roulette wheel.

The last thing he wanted to be was another chump. If small-time investors knew how they were being reamed out by the big boys every day, they'd never invest again.

She called it the Catastrophe-Inducing Agency

It's not enough to figure out how to do something. You must also analyze every possible path to failure. Only then can you be certain of success.

It is a wager with an infinite upside and no downside. And, I might add, it is a wager every human being must make. It is not optional. Pascal's Wager—the logic is impeccable.

He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.

Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.

The more honor, the more danger.

While I see many hoof-marks going in, I see none coming out…. It is easier to get into the enemy's toils than out again.

It is easy to be brave at a safe distance.

Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet

If you place your head in a lion's mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.

A weak man in a corner is more dangerous than a strong man. (Inspector Miller)

From now on, it is our task to suspect each and everyone amongst us. Forewarned is forearmed. Take no risks and be alert to danger. That is all.