Risk

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:

    Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not.
    Václav Havel (b. 1936)

    Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it.... It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.
    Erica Jong (b. 1942)

    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)