Yes, there's only two certainties in life and death is one of them (nurses being the other, apparently).
I lost no small number of aircrew friends and colleagues to flying accidents, about eighteen of them at the last count. Three of them as I joined my first squadron almost thirty years ago, due to an accident in Rhodesia. Actually, better make that nineteen. I helped train the Wing Commander shot down in Iraq whilst on a familiarisation flight a while back. Another of them was my best pal, another military aviator doing the same job as me. His wife was a close friend of my wife, still is 16 years on.
I believe that one of the most dangerous things in aviation is an attitude of "it can't happen to me".
However, reasoned caution is the way to go and don't ever be afraid to say "Sorry, can't be done, at least not in this weather or until it's light" if required. Don't get backed into a corner where the only option is to complete the flight.