Answers:
Haha you will find, if you look hard enough, an antidote to almost every if not indeed every saying. "Look before you leap" could be countered with "He who hesitates is lost" or "A stitch in time saves nine" could be replied to with "Make hay while the sun shines" No matter what you want to do in life, it seems, the ancient wisdom of phrases and sayings will agree with you. And it is true what you have said "Nothing ventured, nothing lost" it's all about perspective. Shall I buy a lottery ticket? Nothing ventured, nothing gained so I will. Here you are thinking about what *could* be gained. In this scenario if the person has thought "Nothing ventured, nothing lost so I won't" they are thinking about what they would not want to risk losing and in this example if you measure the possible winnings against the possible loss there is a substantial difference. Maybe it's just me but I can think of far more examples of *this* nature, than where the risk of loss is more substantial. This would be why there is more call for the saying "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" rather than "Nothing ventured, nothing lost". This seems to be close to the definition of a "Thankless task", that is, something that you do for which you get absolutely no praise or recognition but if you were to not do this "thankless task" you would be made to regret it.