fear

Long before it paralyzes action, fear begins as a quiet whisper in the dark, shaping our choices, guarding our vulnerabilities, and occasionally pointing the exact way toward growth we desperately need to undertake. The voices gathered here—from philosophers and statesmen to writers wrestling with their own panic—do not offer simple blueprints for absolute bravery; instead, they examine the intricate architecture of dread itself. Exploring these nearly one thousand reflections reveals how human beings across generations have learned to stare down their shadows, transforming instinctive terror into profound self-awareness and unexpected courage. Step into this collection whenever you are ready to listen closely to what your own anxieties might be trying to teach you.

999

Total Quotes

759

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Top Authors in fear

Discover the most quoted authors in this category

Natan Sharansky

8 quotes

Bertrand Russell

8 quotes

Dale Carnegie

6 quotes

Thomas Jefferson

6 quotes

Cyril Connolly

5 quotes

Aristotle

5 quotes

George S. Patton

5 quotes

Mahatma Gandhi

4 quotes

Featured Quotes

Some of our most popular quotes in this category

"A line from one of my 1997 columns - 'Do one thing every day that scares you' - is now widely attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, though I have yet to see any evidence that she ever said it and I don't believe she did. She said some things about fear, but not that thing."

— Mary Schmichfear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us."

— Marianne Williamsonfear

"In itself, homosexuality is as limiting as heterosexuality: the ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man either, a human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation."

— Simone de Beauvoirfear

"Writing is a form of therapy sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation."

— Graham Greenefear

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

— Marcus Aureliusfear

"Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world."

— Ralph Waldo Emersonfear

All fear Quotes

Browse all quotes in this category (999 quotes, page 14 of 34)

"I'd like to jump out of a plane. I have a fear of heights I'd like to face."

-Freida Pinto

fear

Top Authors in fear

Natan Sharansky

Bertrand Russell

Dale Carnegie

Thomas Jefferson

Cyril Connolly

Aristotle

George S. Patton

Mahatma Gandhi

Featured Quotes

All fear Quotes

"I'd like to jump out of a plane. I have a fear of heights I'd like to face."

"By action and reaction do we become strong or weak, according to the character of our thoughts and mental states. Fear is the deadly nightshade of the mind."

"I play with a fear of letting people down. That's what motivates me."

"Fear may very well be a caveman fear of the predator, of the giant lizard chasing them - maybe that's what Steven Spielberg connects with so well in Lost World."

"I like normal stuff people fear - like spiders and heights. I'm frightened by the unknown, by things that are hard to figure out and get a grip on."

"Being aware of your fear is smart. Overcoming it is the mark of a successful person."

"I think there's a lot projected on beautiful women, period. At least, maybe this is just my fear, but I do sometimes feel dismissed before I've even been allowed to participate. I have moments of feeling really wounded. But I am pretty optimistic, and I do enjoy a lot of my life."

"I have no fear that the candle lighted in Palestine years ago will ever be put out."

"Loneliness is, I think, people's biggest fear, whether they are conscious of it or not."

"I have no fear of photography as long as it cannot be used in heaven and in hell."

"Fools rush in where incumbents fear to tread."

"Do what you fear most and you control fear."

"In contrast, fear societies are societies in which dissent is banned."

"Will dissent be permitted? The answer to that question will determine whether the society is a free society or a fear society."

"I'm always interested in trying to investigate different personalities. I want to keep myself guessing and keep the fear element alive, so that I don't get too comfortable."

"You can't be afraid to put out a fire if you're a fireman. You can't be afraid to be a police officer and carry a gun if you're afraid to get up and go out there. So you've got to put that fear to the side and go out in faith to overcome that."

"I have a ridiculous fear of sharks but I'd jump in the water in a second for an amazing role."

"I think masculinity is bravado against the mystery of the universe of women. It's just a fear of not knowing what women have that's so powerful. It's this shield they put up to try to get closer."

"There's no love more intense than the love we have for our kids - and where there is intense love, there is also intense fear lurking beneath the surface."

"There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear. Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable."

"Slowness to change usually means fear of the new."

"President Obama clearly cannot run on his record. All he's offering is more of the same. That's not good. Look at the economy. It's stagnating. And so, what they're now going to try and do is bring this campaign down to little things, distractions, distortions, smear, fear, anger, frustration."

"When someone says that I'm angry it's actually a compliment. I have not always been direct with my anger in my relationships, which is part of why I'd write about it in my songs because I had such fear around expressing anger as a woman."

"Quite a lot of our contemporary culture is actually shot through with a resentment of limits and the passage of time, anger at what we can't do, fear or even disgust at growing old."

"Shock, confusion, fear, anger, grief, and defiance. On Sept. 11, 2001, and for the three days following the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, President George W. Bush led with raw emotion that reflected the public's whipsawing stages of acceptance."

"When we can lay down our fear and anger and choose responses other than aggression, we create the conditions for bringing out the best in us humans."

"At the time, 1980, people regarded actresses involved with production with a certain amount of fear, resentment and anger."

"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

"Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present - and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future."

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