You have been dead.

via: Christopher Paquette
excerpted from "The Complete Walker" by Colin Fletcher

"If you judge safety to be the paramount consideration in your life you should never, under any circumstances, go on long hikes alone. Don't take short hikes alone either- or, for that matter, go anywhere alone. And avoid at all costs such foolhardy activities as driving, falling in love, or inhaling air that is almost certainly riddled with deadly germs. Wear wool next to your skin. Insure every good and chattel you posses against every conceivable contingency the future might bring, even if the premiums half-cripple the present. Never cross an intersection against a red light, even when you can see that all roads are clear for miles. And never, of course, explore the guts of an idea that seems as if it might threaten one of your more cherished beliefs. In your wisdom you will probably live to a ripe old age. But you may discover, just before you die, that you have been dead for a long, long time."