What Have We Got to Lose?

Often we hear people discuss the odds on certain prospects or proposals—the chances of winning or losing, of success or failure in various matters. And sometimes we hear quite casually the question: “What have we got to lose?”

There are many hazards in life, many chances, many so-called “calculated risks.” But the hazards and the risks can be reduced by the sincere resolve not to take dishonest or unethical or illegal chances—not to run against the law, the commandments, or the time-proven principles.

Arthur Brisbane once said: “Life is a short walk along a narrow thread…beginning and ending in a mysterious unknown…Life is short as we see it, but in reality never ends—and, long or short, it is all that we have.” Life is all we have, here or hereafter. And since this is so, no one can wisely take chances in matters of morals, or honesty, or other things, incompatible with quite conscience. As the lawlessness of any evil action, even if we don’t get caught by someone else, we get caught by our own conscience—caught with loss of self-respect, with not liking ourselves inside.