Quote Originally Posted by fund razor View Post
Encouraging it is perhaps reckless.

Understanding it is perhaps foolish.

Allowing it certainly seems the definition of freedom.
I think that Gar Wood and Ken Warby enjoyed this freedom. A freedom that exists less and less in the "save everybody from themselves" culture that we have evolved toward as we shifted our sights as a nation from the moon to the courtroom.

Maybe I'm reckless, or foolish, or maybe I'm just too young still to become a nervous crone. I don't ride a turbocharged motorcycle anymore, so while I am more cautious than I used to be, I still have an interest the very few remaining frontiers that exist in our world. One day, there will be speed limits on the open waters, and men like Wood and Warby will all be safe from themselves.

If the amalgam of bravery and stupidity was more easily separated by wise and clairvoyant men, we'd have rejected the wheel. We'd have prudently admired the moon, but never touched it. We'd have stared at the sea but never ventured to unknown lands. We'd have pondered the view from a treetop but never climbed a tree. We'd have stayed on our own side of every mountain. We'd have never exceeded the speed of sound. All foolish endeavors undertaken by men so much less wise than ourselves.
very well said