Quotes about fear
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“All our ideas are representations of the objects that affect our senses; then what can be represented by the idea of God, which is obviously an idea without an object? Isn't such an idea, or will add, as impossible as effects without causes? Isn't an idea without a prototype anything but a chimera? Some Doctors of the Church, you will continue, assure us that the notion of God is innate, and that a man already has this notion in his mother's womb. But that is wrong, you will add; every principle is a judgement, every judgement is the result of experience, and experience can be gained only through the exercise of the senses. And it thereby follows that religious principles are obviously based on nothing and are not innate at all. How, you will go on, could anyone persuade rational beings that the hardest thing to grasp was the most essential thing for them? They were terrified; and when you are terrified, you are no longer rational. Above all, they were told to distrust their reasoning; and when the brains are muddled, you believe everything and examine nothing. Fear and ignorance, you will continue, are two mainstays of any and all religions.”

Marquis de Sade Philosophy in the Bedroom

Yet Another Effort, Frenchmen, If You Would Become Republicans
Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

God, Religion, Sense, Idea

“A person must have lost his mind to believe in God. The product of either fear or weakness, this abominable phantom, Eugenie, is useless for the system of the earth, It would even be infallibly harmful. You see, its will, which must be just, could never ally itself with the injustice essential to the laws of nature. It would constantly have to wish for goodness, which nature desires only as compensation for the evil that serves its laws. It would have to act continuously, and nature, one of whose laws is that perpetual motion, could only rival and perpetually resist it.”

Marquis de Sade Philosophy in the Bedroom

First Dialogue, Delmonce
Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

God, Law, Personality, Nature

“Don't fear failure.”

Bruce Lee (1940–1973) Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker

Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 121

Failure

“Fear only has one enemy and that is a confident persona.”

Torrie Wilson (1975) American professional wrestler

WWE Hall of Fame induction (2019)

Self-confidence, Confidence

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

Pope John XXIII (1881–1963) 261st Pope of the Catholic Church

Dreams, Hope, Thinking, Motivational

“Fear grows in darkness; if you think theres a bogeyman around, turn on the light.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

Light, Thinking

“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

Wisdom

“Fear, selfishness, greed and a human weakness for seeking the "easy way" have led us to the abyss.”

David Lane (white nationalist) (1938–2007) American white supremacist, convicted felon

Now or Never
Focus Fourteen

Selfishness, Way

“There are only two forces that unite men — fear and interest. All great revolutions originate in fear, for the play of interests does not lead to accomplishment.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

Men

“Only a few kings are respected, but many are feared.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“The fear of death make people do all the stupid things in the world. You want protection from evil? But who will live forever?”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

People, Stupidity, World, Death

“There is a thin line between respect and fear. Some people end up confusing or mixing the two.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

People

“You have got nothing to fear except the ignorance of your intelligence or lack of knowledge.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Intelligence, Knowledge

“To fear God is first of all to see, on the level of action, consequences in causes, sanction in sin, suffering in error; to love God is first to choose God, that is to say, to prefer what brings one nearer Him over what estranges from Him.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2005, Stations of Wisdom, World Wisdom, 102, 978-0-94153218-1]
God, Reverential fear and love

God, Suffering, Love, Error

“Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence. Flow down and down in always
widening rings of being.”

Rumi (1207–1273) Iranian poet

"A Community of the Spirit" in Ch. 1 : The Tavern, p. 2
Disputed, The Essential Rumi (1995)

Silence, Thinking

“The darkness isn't afraid of coming close to me, my fear of loneliness draws him towards me. Darkness surrounds me and despair takes hold of me. I start to torment my loneliness, and my silence begins to take my life. When I call my happiness darkness always turns happiness way. Darkness is not afraid of me coming close to me, my fear pulls it to me.”

Shabdon Ka Jahan

Drawing, Silence, Happiness, Loneliness

Shabdon Ka Jahan

Drawing, Silence, Happiness, Loneliness

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

Source: 1850s, Speech at Peoria, Illinois (1854)
Context: At the hazard of being thought one of the fools of this quotation, I meet that argument — I rush in — I take that bull by the horns. I trust I understand and truly estimate the right of self-government. My faith in the proposition that each man should do precisely as he pleases with all which is exclusively his own lies at the foundation of the sense of justice there is in me. I extend the principle to communities of men as well as to individuals. I so extend it because it is politically wise, as well as naturally just: politically wise in saving us from broils about matters which do not concern us. Here, or at Washington, I would not trouble myself with the oyster laws of Virginia, or the cranberry laws of Indiana. The doctrine of self-government is right, — absolutely and eternally right, — but it has no just application as here attempted. Or perhaps I should rather say that whether it has such application depends upon whether a negro is not or is a man. If he is not a man, in that case he who is a man may as a matter of self-government do just what he pleases with him.
But if the negro is a man, is it not to that extent a total destruction of self-government to say that he too shall not govern himself. When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government — that is despotism. If the negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that "all men are created equal," and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man's making a slave of another.

Angels, Fools

“When you think or speak about yourself, when you say, “I,” what you usually refer to is “me and my story.” This is the “I” of your likes and dislikes, fears and desires, the “I” that is never satisfied for long. It is a mind-made sense of who you are, conditioned by the past and seeking to find its fulfillment in the future.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: Stillness Speaks (2003)

Past, Future, Thinking, Sense

“How wonderful to go beyond wanting and fearing in your relationships. Love does not want or fear anything.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: Stillness Speaks (2003), Ch 8

Love

“Most people's lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more fully. All fear is the fear of losing something, and thereby become diminished and be less. These two movements obscure the fact that being cannot be given or taken away. Being in its fullness is already within you, now.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: Stillness Speaks (2003), Ch 5

People

“All the misery on the planet arises due to a personalized sense of me or us. That covers up the essence of who you are. When you are unaware of that inner essence, in the end, you always create misery. It's as simple as that. When you don't know who you are, you create a mind-made self as a substitute for your beautiful, divine being and cling to that fearful and needy self. Protecting and enhancing that false sense of self then becomes your primary motivating force.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: Stillness Speaks (2003), Ch 5

Personality, Falseness, Motivation, Beauty

“If you don't live in the Moment;

You are looking Forward to Uncertainty

or Back to acute Pain, Fear, Regret and Remorse.

It is an Insane World…make it Simple.”

Stephie Pahlavi Zan

Pain, World

“Belittled. Fear, Hatred, Hardship, Unbelieved, Brought Success into existence -Engr. Abah Sule”

Engr.Abah Sule

Success

“You are deeply loved by God. Do you know that? I mean, do you really know that? Because if you do, you will move through life without fear. You will know that only Perfection can occur.”

Neale Donald Walsch (1943) American writer

God, Life, Perfection, Love

“In every battle, we don't always win. Perhaps we are defeated more often than not. We are made to hurt and suffer. We are made to cry and mourn each defeat, but we must not stop there. Because tomorrow there will be another battle. As long as we still have hope we must believe that one day we will win the battle. What can defeat us is the weakness of our own soul. We are not winners if we are unable to overcome our own fears and worries.”

Titon Rahmawan

Hurt, Soul, Suffering, Cry

Titon Rahmawan

Hurt, Soul, Suffering, Cry

“Whenever we judge others, it emanates from our fear, and separation. When you feel separate from everything around you, then you judge it. When you are connected to something, there is no need to judge.”

Ralph Smart

Feeling

“Everything‟s fine,” I said, with a tight smile. “Kiyo was just giving me
his latest explanation about how my son is a terror to be feared.”
Dorian scoffed. “Little Thundro? A terror? Hardly, unless perhaps
we‟re discussing diapers.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Shadow Heir

Smile

“It may be that the fear contains information. Something can be interesting if you get to the other side of that fear.”

Craig Ferguson (1962) Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice a…

“Fear is the loneliest feeling. You can be in a throng of people, but if you're afraid, you're on your own.”

Michelle Paver book Oath Breaker

Source: Oath Breaker

People, Feeling

“She now knew that the death she feared might not be a physical one, that it could be death of the will, the soul, the mind, the laws, and thus not death, but a perpetual dying.”

Joanne Greenberg book I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Source: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Death, Law, Soul

“It was like something you have dreaded and feared and dodged for years until it seemed like all your life, then despite everything it happened to you and all it was was just pain, all it did was hurt and so it was all over, all finished, all right.”

William Faulkner book Intruder in the Dust

Source: Intruder in the Dust

Life, Pain, Hurt

“Have pity on those who are fearful of taking up a pen, or a paintbrush, or an instrument, or a tool because they are afraid that someone has already done so better than they could…”

Paulo Coelho book The Pilgrimage

Source: The Pilgrimage

“Put your foot upon the neck of the fear of criticism by reaching a decision not to worry about what other people think, do, or say.”

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author

Source: Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller - Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century

People, Thinking, Decision

“Men decide far more problems by hate, love, lust, rage, sorrow, joy, hope, fear, illusion or some other inward emotion, than by reality, authority, any legal standard, judicial precedent, or statute.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero (-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman

Love, Men, Hate, Hope

“Fear always springs
from ignorance.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Variant: Fear always springs from ignorance.

Spring

“Love is the opposite of power. That's why we fear it so much.”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Love

“the most dangerous enemy is that which no one fears!”

Dan Brown book Angels & Demons

Source: Angels & Demons

“Sensationalism dies quickly, fear is long-lived.”

Agatha Christie book Death in the Clouds

Source: Death in the Clouds

“It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.”

Hilary Mantel book Wolf Hall

Source: Wolf Hall

People

“My guess is that fearful events are the hardest to root out. They're the ones we naturally remember the best, after all.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Nature

David Benioff book City of Thieves

Source: City of Thieves

Time

“Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear.”

Dan Millman (1946) American self help writer

People, Feeling, Success

“But then, is there cowardice in the acknowledgment of fear? Is there cowardice in being glad that you lived?”

Markus Zusak book The Book Thief

Source: The Book Thief

“Just because you feel fear doesn't mean you can't do it. Do it afraid”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

Feeling

“Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves…”

Cheryl Strayed book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Source: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

“Please learn the pragmatics of expressing fear: sometimes words that seem to express really invoke.
This can be tricky.”

David Foster Wallace book Infinite Jest

Source: Infinite Jest

Learning

“Wake the sleeper must, and confront his fears, or risk being lost in the dark places of the mind forever.”

Juliet Marillier book Daughter of the Forest

Source: Daughter of the Forest

“The mind of man is capable of anything--because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, valor, rage--who can tell?--but
truth--truth stripped of its cloak of time.”

Joseph Conrad book Heart of Darkness

Source: Heart of Darkness

Truth, Rage, Time, Past

“I am marked like a road map from head to toe with my repressions. You can travel the length and breadth of my body over superhighways of shame and inhibition and fear.”

Philip Roth book Portnoy's Complaint

Source: Portnoy's Complaint (1969)

Travel

“If you care about something enough, it’s going to make you cry. But you have to use it. Use your tears. Use your pain. Use your fear. Get mad. Arnold, get mad.”

Sherman Alexie book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Source: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Pain, Tear, Cry, Madness

“Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and its fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.”

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Romantic poet

Source: Ode: Intimations Of Immortality From Recollections Of Early Childhood

Lie, Flowers, Tear, Heart

“I went to bed feeling melancholy, wishing I could have
poured out all my fears and insecurities to my mom. Wasn’t
that what normal mothers and daughters did?”

Richelle Mead Bloodlines

Source: Bloodlines

Feeling, Moms, Daughters

“Her secret fear? Maybe she didn't tried hard enough.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

Secret

“Anger exceeding limits causes fear and excessive kindness eliminates respect.”

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

Anger

“It's not that I've suddenly become stronger or that something has changed. I'm still shaking. But… We don't have to let those fears stop us. What's most important is that we try to rise above our weakness.”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Change

“Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there's little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

“But fear is confusing. It tears you in two. Half of you wants to run far, far away, but the other half is paralyzed, frozen, immovable. And the hard part is that you never know which half is going to win.”

Melody Carlson (1956) American writer

Source: Finding Alice

Tear, Parting

“paranoia, the first cousin of a bastard named fear”

Eric Jerome Dickey (1961) American author

Source: Dying for Revenge

“It holds no fear for her now, because the shark has been tamed by the soul of a boy. No--the soul of a man.”

Neal Shusterman book Unwind

Source: Unwind

Soul, Boy

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Italian politician, Writer and Author

Love

“Putting up with the fear of being with the wrong person because you can't deal with the fear of being alone.”

David Levithan book Every Day

Source: Every Day

Personality

“Daughter, we didn't need your note - or a prince's visit - to tell us you'd done nothing wrong. We know the daughter we raised. We fear for your future, but never for your character. You take our love and our trust wherever you wander.
Father.”

Gail Carson Levine Fairest

Source: Fairest

Love, Future, Daughters

“Time Is…
Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who fear,
Too long for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice,
But for those who love,
Time is Eternity.”

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) American diplomat

Time Is
Undated
Source: Time Is...
Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who fear,
Too long for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice,
But for those who love,
Time is Eternity. (Music and Other Poems, 1904)

Deep, love, Powerful, Valentine's Day

“Every ruler should strive for his people to love him. But if they cannot love you, then make them fear you. Love is better, but fear will do the job.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Narcissus in Chains

Source: Narcissus in Chains

Love, People

“I delight in what I fear.”

Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) novelist, short story writer

“If a man is really into you, nothing will stop him from being with you - including a fear of intimacy.”

Greg Behrendt (1963) American comedian

“Things are as bad as you fear they are. People are as bad as you think they are. The Universe does not care.”

Charlie Huston Sleepless

Source: Sleepless

People, Thinking, Universe

“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grass and gentians of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but Nature's sources never fail. … The petty discomforts that beset the awkward guest, the unskilled camper, are quickly forgotten, while all that is precious remains. Fears vanish as soon as one is fairly free in the wilderness.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

" The Yellowstone National Park http://books.google.com/books?id=smQCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA509", The Atlantic Monthly, volume LXXXI, number 486 (April 1898) pages 509-522 (at pages 515-516); modified slightly and reprinted in Our National Parks http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/our_national_parks/ (1901), chapter 2: The Yellowstone National Park <br class="br">1900s, Our National Parks (1901)

Age, Peace, Mountain, Autumn

“Cowards hide […] but warriors lie and wait […] the only difference is whether you're motivated by fear or purpose.”

Neal Shusterman (1962) American novelist

Source: UnSouled

Lie, Motivation, Waiting