“Less base the fear of death than fear of life.”
Source: Night-Thoughts (1742–1745), Night V, Line 441.
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Edward Young110
English poet 1683–1765Related quotes
“It is less degrading to fear than to be feared.”
Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet
Temer no humilla tanto como ser temido.
Voces (1943)
“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
“Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death.”
Erik H. Erikson book Childhood and Society
Childhood and Society (1950), p. 269
“The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.”
Publilio Siro Latin writer
Maxim 511
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave
“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth – more than ruin, more even than death.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
Source: 1910s, Why Men Fight https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Why_Men_Fight (1917), pp. 178-179 <br class="br">Context: Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth – more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible; thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. It sees man, a feeble speck, surrounded by unfathomable depths of silence; yet it bears itself proudly, as unmoved as if it were lord of the universe. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.
“Everything we do in life is based on fear, especially love.”
Mel Brooks (1926) American director, writer, actor, and producer