Final class, final day, final advice from Harvard (alternate title: Why would I ride a motorcycle to Boston and back?)

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
to weep is to risk appearing sentimental,
to reach out to another is to risk involvement,
to expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self,
to place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss,
to love is to risk not being loved in return,
to live is to risk dying,
to hope is to risk despair,
to try is to risk failure.

But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or live. Chained by his certitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom. 

Only a person who risks is free.

-William Arthur Ward