William H. Danforth, who founded the Nestle Purina company (originally Purina Mills before the 2001 merger with Nestle) in 1894, saw life as a type of checkerboard. Danforth believed that four key components (or "squares") – the mental, the physical, the social, and the religious – needed to be in balance in order to achieve fulfillment and success in life. He encapsulated his ideas in "I Dare You!," a book he published more than 70 years ago in which he urges readers of any age to take chances and fulfill their full potential through his strategies of becoming a more risk-taking person.
