Success often comes to those who dare to act. It seldom goes to the timid who are ever afraid of the consequences.

Opportunity rarely rewards the person who waits until every risk has been ruled out. The quote contrasts two temperaments: those who act despite uncertainty, and those so absorbed in what might go wrong that they never begin. It says "often" and "seldom," not "always" and "never." Daring does not guarantee success, but constant fear nearly guarantees its absence, because nothing gets attempted.

The thought suits Nehru's own life as a leader of India's independence movement, which asked ordinary people to risk arrest and imprisonment to challenge a powerful empire. He tended to see progress as something people make rather than wait for. The wording is widely credited to him in quote collections, but I know of no well-documented source, so the attribution is uncertain.

Today it might apply to someone who has long wanted to change careers but keeps waiting to feel ready. They need not resign overnight. They could take an evening course or send two applications this month, accepting that a rejection is a cost they can survive. Small acts of daring tend to shrink the consequences we feared.