Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Almost any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.
Read more about Risk: Historical Background, Practice Areas, Risk Assessment and Analysis, Risk in Auditing, Other Considerations, Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the word risk:
“Every day, in this mostly male world, you have to figure out, “Do I get this by charming somebody? By being strong? Or by totally allowing my aggression out?” You’ve got to risk failure. The minute you want to keep power—you’ve become subservient, somebody who does work you don’t believe in.”
—Paula Weinstein (b. 1945)
“If you think it will only add one sprig to the wreath the country twines to bind the brows of my hero, I will run the risk of being sneered at by those who criticize female productions of all kinds. ...Though a female, I was born a patriot.”
—Annie Boudinot Stockton (1736–1801)
“The risk for a woman who considers her helpless children her “job” is that the children’s growth toward self-sufficiency may be experienced as a refutation of the mother’s indispensability, and she may unconsciously sabotage their growth as a result.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)