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.
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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 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 nearer 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.
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He had been for long experimenting with various drugs in his search for an anesthetic, when one evening he and two friends decided to try 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. When they awoke, they were lying on the floor, prostrate.
From his dangerous experiment came the discovery of the merciful anesthetic that enables surgeons to perform safely operation impossible before.
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.
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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-hardiness 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.