Quotes about fear
page 16

“When you were in love you knew no fear or hatred.”

Christopher Pike book The Last Vampire

Source: The Last Vampire

Love

“Better to be a laughing-stock than lose the fort for fear of being one.”

Rosemary Sutcliff book The Eagle of the Ninth

Source: The Eagle of the Ninth

“I had never feared insomnia before--like prison, wouldn't it just give you more time to read?”

Lorrie Moore (1957) American writer

Time, Reading

“Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself when apparent to the eyes; and we find the burden of anxiety greater, by much, than the evil which we are anxious about :…”

Daniel Defoe La vie et les aventures de Robinson Crusoe

Source: Robinson Crusoe

Evil, Time

“I do what I do without hope of reward or fear of punishment. I do not require Heaven or Hell to bribe or scare me into acting decently.”

Mary Doria Russell The Sparrow

Source: The Sparrow

Hope, Hell

“You'd be surprised how many people in the modern age no longer fear zombies as much as teletubies.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Dream Warrior

People, Age

“At the heart of the matter is a battle between wish and fear. Fear generally proves stronger than a wish, but it leaves a taste of disappointment on the tongue.”

George Packer (1960) American journalist and writer

Disappointment, Heart

“In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others.”

Brennan Manning (1934–2013) writer, American Roman Catholic priest and United States Marine

Source: Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

Communication, Light, Past

“The brain controls pain. It controls fear. Sleep. Empathy. Hunger. Everything we associate with the heart or the soul or the nervous system is actually controlled by the brain. Everything. What if you could control it?”

Dennis Lehane book Shutter Island

Source: Shutter Island

Hunger, Pain, Soul, Sleep

“Because for all the changes, some things were immutable truths: friendship transcends all barriers, understanding trumps fear, and great power can always be surmounted by determination.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: The Witch With No Name

Friendship, Truth, Understanding, Change

“If you fear nothing, then you are not brave. You are merely too foolish to be afraid.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Skin Trade

Source: Skin Trade

“Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules
Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king.”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

Source: Paradise Regained by John Milton

Passion

“Procrastination is not Laziness", I tell him. "It is fear. Call it by its right name, and forgive yourself.”

Julia Cameron (1948) American writer

Source: The Prosperous Heart

Forgiveness

“I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back….”

Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic

Life, Change, Heart, Parting

“Beauty and fear make uneasy companions”

Cornelia Funke (1958) author

Beauty

“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.”

James Stephens book The Crock of Gold

The Crock of Gold (Charleston: BiblioBazaar, [1912] 2006) p. 13.

Courageous

“Nor does God whisper through the trees. His voice is not to be mistaken. When men hear it they fall to their knees and their souls are riven and they cry out to Him and there is no fear but only wildness of heart that springs from such longing…”

Cormac McCarthy book The Crossing

Source: The Crossing

Men, God, Soul, Spring

“Boldness in battle is nothing out of the way… but to face down fear in cold blood is rare in any man.”

Diana Gabaldon book Outlander

Source: Outlander

Way

“Not that I’ve ever feared a fight or backed down from one –(Wren)
That’s the truth. I swear he’s half beta fish. He’d fight his own reflection to prove a point. (Maggie)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Unleash the Night

Truth, Fish, Fight

“At the beauty of what she had stumbled onto, at the fear that something terrible would happen because she was not vigilant enough. She cried at the fear of something so good that she would not be brave enough to bear it.”

Rebecca Wells book Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Source: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Beauty

“That's not a real answer.'
Says who?'
Says me. I mean real fear, like of failure, of death, of regret. Like that. Something that keeps you awake nights, questioning your very existence.'
Clowns.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Death, Failure, Question, Night

“For fear you will be alone
you do so many things
that aren’t you at all.”

Richard Brautigan (1935–1984) American novelist, poet, and short story writer

“It's knowing I'll never have what she has--a beauty so powerful it brings things to you. I fear I will always have to chase things I want. I'll always have to wonder whether I'm truly wanted or whether I've just been settled for.”

Libba Bray (1964) American teen writer

Beauty

“If a person fears God, she has no reason to fear anything else.”

Beth Moore (1957) American evangelist

God, Personality

“Women scheme when they are weak, they lie out of fear. Men scheme when they are strong, they lie out of arrogance.”

Julian Barnes book Flaubert's Parrot

Source: Flaubert's Parrot

Women, Men, Lie, Strong

“Remember that fear causes to happen the very things it fears. That's why fear should be unknown to us.”

Louis De Bernières (1954) English novelist

“Tory a father isn’t supposed to fear his fourteen-year-old daughter. That being sad, you terrify me.”

Kathy Reichs book Seizure

Source: Seizure

Sadness, Daughters

“All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears - of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, of speaking before a Rotary Club, and of the words "Some Assembly Required".”

Dave Barry (1947) American writer

“Meet this transient world with neither grasping nor fear, trust the unfolding of life, and you will attain true serenity.”

Krishna Dharma (1955) British Hindu scholar and author

Life, World

“Sir Topher finally looked up. “Because any hope beyond that, my boy, would be too much. I feared we would drown in it.”
"Then I choose to drown,” Finnikin said. “In hope. Rather than float into nothing.”

Melina Marchetta Finnikin of the Rock

Source: Finnikin of the Rock

Hope, Boy

“Alone. It's one of those small words that means entirely too much. Like fear. Or trust.”

Jim Butcher book Fool Moon

Source: Fool Moon

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

The alchemist, p. 141.
Variant: There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
Source: The Alchemist (1988)

Dreams, Motivational, Business, Powerful

“We get used to living one way, even if it's a bad way or a hard one. When that's gone, there's a hole to fill. It's in our nature to try to fill it with anxieties and fears. It can take time to fill it with good things instead.”

Cassandra Clare book Lord of Shadows

Source: Lord of Shadows

Way, Nature, Time

“There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and the air of the streets. Fear walks through the city, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare speak.”

Ayn Rand book Anthem

Source: Anthem

Men, Feeling, Sleep

“Fear--who cares?”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love

“When faith in our freedom gives way to fear of our freedom, silencing the minority view becomes the operative protocol.”

Joel Salatin (1957) American environmentalist

Source: Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front

Faith, Way, Freedom, Silence

“It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.”

Marjane Satrapi (1969) Artist

Source: The Complete Persepolis

“Only those few who are able to surpass their fear of death completely can fully experience the highest forms of life; not the mundane life of the mortal, but the godly life of the resurrected.”

Zeena Schreck (1963) Tantric Buddhist/Sethian

Life, Death

“I had nothing to fear from my father.
Except his disappointment.
Which was no small thing.”

Barbara Delinsky (1945) American writer

Source: Escape

Disappointment

“To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist

World, Sense, Change, Past

“There’s a reason we are drawn to the light. A reason why we fear darkness. It’s important to be terrified and unnerved about certain things. That way we will choose another path. The path that leads us to truth and love.”

Ted Dekker (1962) American writer

Love, Truth, Way, Light

“Hope strengthens. Fear kills.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Shadowfever

Hope

“The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Life, Change

“I fear that I am losing my mind. But really, it would not be such a precious thing to lose, as it only causes me pain.”

L.A. Meyer (1942–2014) American writer

Source: The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea

Pain

“Creative scientists and saints expect revelation and do not fear it. Neither do children. But as we grow up and we are hurt, we learned not to trust.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Children, Learning, Hurt

“As to whether the depression will come back, it is every depressive's fear.”

Sally Brampton (1955–2016) British writer

Source: Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”

Julia Child (1921–2004) American chef

Failure, Hell, Cooking

“Farewell Hope, and with Hope farewell Fear”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

Hope

“And yet she can tell he is visited by fears so immense, so multiple, that she can almost feel the terror pulsing inside him. As though some beast breathes all the time at the windowpanes of his mind.”

Anthony Doerr book All the Light We Cannot See

Source: All the Light We Cannot See

Feeling, Time

“Safer to be feared than loved.”

Gillian Flynn book Sharp Objects

Source: Sharp Objects

Love

“It is not power that corrupts but fear.”

Aung San Suu Kyi (1945) State Counsellor of Myanmar and Leader of the National League for Democracy

“A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it”

Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) Peruvian-American author

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe, (1998), Quotations from The Teachings of Don Juan (Chapter 4)

War, Knowledge

“Fear separates--makes us feel alone--disconnected--while love--love does just the opposite--it unites. {shadowland}”

Alyson Nöel (1965) writer

Love, Feeling

“Arm yourself, my heart: the thing that you must do is fearful, yet inevitable.”

Euripidés (-480–-406 BC) ancient Athenian playwright

Source: Medea and Other Plays: Medea / Alcestis / The Children of Heracles / Hippolytus

Heart, Deep

“Maybe it was inertia -or worse, fear- that was keeping me in the same place.”

Jennifer Weiner (1970) American writer

Source: Certain Girls

“There is a fearful splendor in absolute desolation.”

James Baldwin (1924–1987) (1924-1987) writer from the United States

“That is why embittered people find heroes and madmen a perennial source of fascination, for they have no fear of life or death. Both heroes and madmen are indifferent to danger and will forge ahead regardless of what other people say.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: Veronika Decides to Die

Life, Death, People, Indifference

“Nothing reaches inside you and grabs you by the guts the way fear does.”

John Marsden (1950) author

Source: A Killing Frost

Way

“Enough," Curran said. An unmistakable command saturated his voice. Jim clicked his mouth shut. I crossed my arms. "I'm sorry, is this the part where I fall to my knees and shiver in fear, Your Furriness? Silly me, I didn't get the memo.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Gifts

Parting

“Into the dark night
Resignedly I go,
I am not so afraid of the dark night
As the friends I do not know,
I do not fear the night above
As I fear the friends below.”

Stevie Smith (1902–1971) poet, novelist, illustrator, performer

Source: Selected Poems

Night

“There's a gift in your lap and it's beautifully wrapped and it's not your birthday. You feel wonderful, you feel like somebody knows you're alive, you feel fear because it could be a bomb, because you think you're that important.”

Aimee Bender (1969) Novelist, short story writer

Source: The Girl in the Flammable Skirt

Feeling, Birthday, Thinking

“I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life.”

Yann Martel book Life of Pi

Source: Life of Pi (2001), Chapter 56, p. 178

Life

“" screamed Picchu from somewhere in the background. "Do it now and avoid the June rush! Fear death by water!”

Diane Duane book Deep Wizardry

Source: Deep Wizardry

Death, Water

“there is no harm in being afraid. The only harm is in doing what Fear tells you. Fear is not your master! Laugh in his face and he will run away.”

George MacDonald book Lilith

Source: Lilith

“If theater is ritual, then dance is too… It's as if the threads connecting us to the rest of the world were washed clean of preconceptions and fears. When you dance, you can enjoy the luxury of being you.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: The Witch Of Portobello

World, Dance

“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs. If there was no suffering, man would not know his limits, would not know himself.”

Leo Tolstoy book War and Peace

Source: War and Peace

Death, Suffering

“I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

Variant: I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them.

“A compassion swirled form nowhere in the high I was lost in. She needed me. She needed me to accept her for what she was. And when I realized that I had it within myself to give her at least this small part of me, the last of my fear melted away.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Parting

“The knowledge of the past stays with us. To let go is to
release the images and emotions, the grudges and fears, the
clingings and disappointments of the past that bind our
spirit.”

Jack Kornfield (1945) American writer

Disappointment, Knowledge, Past

“Fear is an instinct, like hunger or anger. We need it to help us survive, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. It lets us know whether we should fight or flee.”

David Clement-Davies book The Sight

Source: The Sight

Hunger, Help, Fight, Anger

“We can get you a throne with snakes. I’ll stand next to you and roar at anybody who fails to grovel. Fear Kate Daniels. She is a mighty and terrible ruler. Grendel can anoint the petitioners with his vomit. It’ll be great…”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Breaks

“Why do we even bother? Why do we make ourselves so open to such easy damage? Is it all loneliness? Is it all fear? Or is it just to experience those narcotic moments of belonging with someone else?”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Loneliness

“This is our big chance to see what people think of us. The real us. We have to show em there's nothing to be afraid of. If we don't get over our fears, they never will.”

Lisi Harrison Monster High

Source: Monster High

People, Thinking, Chance

“It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas, the false relationships between people. Abandon the false and you are free of pain; truth makes happy, truth liberates.”

Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) Indian guru

Pain, Happiness, People, Truth

“There's no shame in fear. But understand this - the coward is ruled by fear, while the hero rides it like a wild stallion.”

David Gemmell book Dark Moon

Source: Dark Moon

Understanding

“I have seen this too many times before. The unwarranted devotion. Putting up with the fear of being with the wrong person because you can’t deal with the fear of being alone. The hope tinged with doubt, and the doubt tinged with hope.”

David Levithan book Every Day

Source: Every Day

Hope, Time, Personality

“It was not the brutality of what occurred next that changed my mind and brought home to me the full meaning of fear. It was the brilliance of it.”

Elizabeth Kostova book The Historian

Source: The Historian

Home, Change

“Perhaps life is just that… a dream and a fear.”

Joseph Conrad book Under Western Eyes

Pt. IV, ch. 2
Under Western Eyes (1911)

Life, Dreams

“Every fear hides a wish.”

David Mamet Edmond

Source: Edmond

“hate has no literature: real fear and real hate have no words”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Hate, Literature

“You can figure out what the villain fears by his choice of weapons.”

Connie Brockway (1954) American writer

Source: The Bridal Season

“The fear of becoming old is born of the recognition that one is not living now the life that one wishes.”

Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist

Life

“I wish there is a world where any one can know the truth and speak there mind with freedom without having to fear for their lives (Rinko, Basara, Vol. 13)”

Yumi Tamura Manga artist

Source: Basara, Vol. 13

Truth, World, Freedom

“War is not heroic. War is not exhilarating. War is full of despair. It is dark. It is dreadful. It is a thing of sorrow and gloom. That is why people fear war. That is why people choose to avoid it.
~Izuru Kira”

Tite Kubo (1977) Japanese manga artist

War, People, Despair

“People always fear what they don't understand, Evangeline. History proves that.”

Libba Bray book The Diviners

Source: The Diviners

People, History, Understanding

“Don't fear death, fear the un-lived life”

Natalie Babbitt book Tuck Everlasting

Variant: dont be afraid of death, be afraid of the unlived life.
Source: Tuck Everlasting

Life, Death

“The ego is the false self-born out of fear and defensiveness.”

John O'Donohue (1956–2008) Irish writer, priest and philosopher

Source: Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

Falseness

“Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe that utterly dwarfs — in time, in space, and in potential — the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors.”

Carl Sagan book Pale Blue Dot

Source: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994), p. 53
Context: Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe that utterly dwarfs — in time, in space, and in potential — the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors. We gaze across billions of light-years of space to view the Universe shortly after the Big Bang, and plumb the fine structure of matter. We peer down into the core of our planet, and the blazing interior of our star. We read the genetic language in which is written the diverse skills and propensities of every being on Earth. We uncover hidden chapters in the record of our origins, and with some anguish better understand our nature and prospects. We invent and refine agriculture, without which almost all of us would starve to death. We create medicines and vaccines that save the lives of billions. We communicate at the speed of light, and whip around the Earth in an hour and a half. We have sent dozens of ships to more than seventy worlds, and four spacecraft to the stars. We are right to rejoice in our accomplishments, to be proud that our species has been able to see so far, and to judge our merit in part by the very science that has so deflated our pretensions.

Universe, Time