[Ads-l] Quote Origin: The Day Came When the Risk to Remain Tight in a Bud Was More Painful Than the Risk It Took to Blossom

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Growth and transformation are frightening. Yet, maintaining stasis is
stultifying. The popular metaphorical expression in the subject line
emphasizes the need to accept change. A variant uses the phrase
"remain closed in a bud".

I’m told that the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso used this expression
recently. This saying has been attributed to prominent diarist Anaïs
Nin, writer Lassie Benton, and writer Elizabeth Appell. Researchers
have uncovered no substantive evidence supporting the attribution to
Anaïs Nin who died in 1977.

The earliest close match I found in a published book appeared in 1984
within "A Practical Approach to Human Behavior in Business" by Allen
L. Appell of San Francisco State University. The saying appeared as a
chapter epigraph which was ascribed to Lassie Benton:

[Begin excerpt]
And the day came
when the risk to remain
closed in a bud,
became more painful
than the risk it took to blossom.
—Lassie Benton
[End excerpt]

More details are presented in the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/10/01/bud-risk/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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