What Have We Got to Lose?

“What have we got to lose?” is a question often asked. Sometimes we hear people discuss the odds on certain prospects or proposals—the chances of winning or losing, the chance succeeding or falling. Many quite casually ask question, “What have we got to lose?”

There are many hazards, many chances, many so-called “calculated risk.” But the risks can be reduced by not taking dishonest chances—not running against the law, not running against the rules of health or the rules of safety. Arthur Bisbane 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.”¹ Life is all we have, here and hereafter. And since this is so, no one would be wise to gamble in matters of morals, or honesty, or anything that will cause a troubled conscience. And as to lawlessness, even if we don’t get caught by someone else, we get caught by ourselves—we get caught with loss of self-respect, wit not liking ourselves inside. The odds on losing health, on losing honor, on losing life, on losing loved ones, or on losing a quiet conscience, can’t be a good gamble. And when anyone says to us: you probably won’t get hurt, or you probably won’t get caught, or you most likely will get away with it the wise answer would be: “I am not interested in the odds or the averages—I am all I have. Life is all I have.” Anyone who takes a dare he shouldn’t take, or involves himself in shady ventures, or gambles his health, or his happiness, his peace, or his principles—anyone who takes a so-called calculated risk where precious and irreplaceable things are laid on the line—would be most unwise, no matter what he thinks the odds are. The odds and the averages are not much comfort to someone who loses what is most precious and important. In all such situations the answer should be simply: “I’m not interested in the odds. I am all I have—life is all I have—life and love one everlastingly.” In the words of Albert Camus: “We have nothing to lose—except everything.”²