Buscagliamania

Teach Life
(an excerpt from leo buscaglia's 'loving, living, and learning)

‘To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.”
Well, so what? Fools have a lot of fun.

“To weep is to risk being called sentimental.”
Of course I’m sentimental. I love it! Tears can help.

“To reach out to another is to risk involvement.”
Who’s risking involvement? I want to be involved.

“To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.”
What else do I have to show?
I say, ‘I have nothing to hide, nothing to prove and nothing to loose.’

“To place your ideas and your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naïve.”
Oh, I’m called worse things than that.

“To love is to risk not being loved in return.”
This is my favorite: I don’t love to be loved in return.

“To live is to risk dying.”
I’m ready for it. Don’t you dare shed one tear if you hear that Buscaglia blew up in the air or dropped dead. He did it with enthusiasm.

“To hope is to risk despair, and to try is to risk failure.”
But risk must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live. Chained by his certitudes, he’s slave. He’s forfeited his freedom. Only the person who risks is truly free. Try it and see what happens.