Risk Quotes

"The idea in anything is to use your technical knowledge, wisdom and love of the game to cut the odds down, to lower the risk."

"All economic activity is by definition "high risk." And defending yesterday--that is, not innovating--is far more risky than making tomorrow. Innovations and Entrepreneurship (1985)"

"Innovation requires taking risks that most experts will tell you are foolish."

"The secret to being a successful CEO is not having a big vision; it's surviving the struggle."

"The risk of being wrong is simply the cost of the opportunity to be right."

"The lesson is clear: estimates of causes of death are warped by media coverage. [...] The world in our heads is not a precise replica of reality; our expectations about the frequency of events are distorted by the prevalence and emotional intensity of the messages to which we are exposed. Ch. 13, "Availability, emotion, and risk" p. 138."

"“It’s a Texan’s attitude toward risk, reward and failure I’m talking about. It’s how they handle life. They live it big."

"A management decision is irresponsible if it risks disaster this year for the sake of a grandiose future. p. 43"

"The best way to manage risk is to move fast. Speed reduces the window of exposure."

"There are no silver bullets for this, only lead bullets."

"Every great company started as a high-risk experiment that most people thought was a bad idea."

"There is no evidence that risk takers in the economic domain have an unusual appetite for gambles on high stakes; they are merely less aware of risks than more timid people are. Ch. 24, "The engine of capitalism" p. 263."

"If fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding."

"And in all my years, I have never met a rich person who has never lost money. But I have met a lot of poor people who have never lost a dime…investing, that is."

"An organization belongs on a sick list when promotion becomes more important to its people than accomplishment of their job they are in. It is sick when it is more concerned with avoiding mistakes than with taking risks, with counteracting the weaknesses of its members than with building on their strength. But it is sick also when "good human relations" become more important than performance and achievement. p. 93-94"

"You have to be willing to look stupid to take a risk that actually matters."

"The risk of doing nothing is often greater than the risk of doing the wrong thing."

"Calculated risk is the hallmark of a professional builder, whereas blind risk is for amateurs."

"Many unfortunate human situations unfold [...] where people who face very bad options take desperate gambles, accepting a high probability of making things worse in exchange for a small hope of avoiding a large loss. Risk taking of this kind often turns manageable failures into disasters. Ch. 29, "The fourfold pattern" pp. 318-319."

"He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. This is the essence of calculated risk."

"If you are going to build the Empire State Building, the first thing you need to do is dig a deep hole and pour a strong foundation. If you are going to build a home in the suburbs, all you need to do is pour a 6-inch slab of concrete. Most people, in their drive to get rich, are trying to build an Empire State Building on a 6-inch slab."

"The better a man is, the more mistakes will he make - for the more new things he will try. I would never promote a man into a top level job who had not made mistakes, and big ones at that. Otherwise he is sure to be mediocre. p. 147"

"In a startup, the risk is usually that you'll fail to make something people want, not that the tech won't work."

"Wartime CEOs often have to take risks that would seem insane in peacetime."

"The market is the ultimate risk. You can have the best team, but if the market doesn't exist, you fail."

"A recurrent theme of this book is that luck plays a large role in every story of success; it is almost always easy to identify a small change in the story that would have turned a remarkable achievement into a mediocre outcome. Introduction, p. 9."

"The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."

"There is always risk, so learn to manage risk instead of avoid it."

"Risk is the price you pay for the opportunity to change the world."

"Hiring for lack of weakness is a mistake; you must hire for strength."

"You have to be willing to be misunderstood if you're going to do anything new or risky."

"He who wishes to fight must first count the cost."

"It is what you do not know that is your greatest risk."