One of the most common traits that bonds people to great success and power, is their ability to take a risk.

Instead of sitting on the sidelines, and wondering ‘what if’, these trail-blazers are proof that with risk comes great reward.

Here are 10 inspiring quotes by 10 exceptional risk-takers:

1. Take the first step in faith, you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

2. Living with fear stops us from taking risks, and if you don’t go out on the branch, you’re never going to get the best fruit. – Sarah Parish

3. Pitiful is a person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won’t suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when the person looks back, she will hear her heart. – Paulo Coelho

4. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour, and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

5. Only those who play win. Only those who risk win. History favours risk-takers. It forgets the timid. Everything else is commentary.” – Iveta Cherneva

6. I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough. – Marissa Mayer

7. If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. – Jim Rohn

8. The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. – Mark Zuckerberg

9. Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain. – Mark Twain

10. Creative risk-taking is essential to success in any goal where the stakes are high. Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution, which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize an opportunity. – Gary Ryan Blair

Bonus Quote:

About Michael Yardney
Michael is the founder of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He’s once again been voted Australia’s leading property investment adviser and one of Australia’s 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.