A life of action and danger moderates the dread of death. It not only gives us fortitude to bear pain, but teaches us at every step the precarious tenure on which we hold our present being.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
—William Allen White (1868–1944) American Journalist, Author, Editor
We are the carriers of health and disease – either the divine health of courage and nobility or the demonic diseases of hate and anxiety.
—Joshua L. Liebman (1907–48) American Rabbi, Author
Fear of death is worse than dying.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Fear is an instructor of great sagacity and the herald of revolutions. One thing he teaches, that there is rottenness where he appears.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
When in fear, it is safest to force the attack.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Fear is faith that it won’t work out.
—Unknown
It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Anxiety is love’s greatest killer. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
To tremble before anticipated evils, is to bemoan what thou hast never lost.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Anxiety is the poison of human life; the parent of many sins and of more miseries.—In a world where everything is doubtful, and where we may be disappointed, and be blessed in disappointment, why this restless stir and commotion of mind?—Can it alter the cause, or unravel the mystery of human events?
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Preacher, Scholar, Critic
Fear could never make a virtue.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
We are more disturbed by a calamity which threatens us than by one which has befallen us.
—John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) American Catholic Clergyman, Essayist, Biographer
Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.
—George Sewell (1687–1726) English Physician, Poet
I’ve had thousands of problems in my life, most of which never actually happened.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern. My hopes indeed sometimes fail, but not oftener than the forebodings of the gloomy.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen.
—Pliny the Younger (c.61–c.112 CE) Roman Senator, Writer
Those who love to be feared fear to be loved, and they themselves are more afraid than anyone, for whereas other men fear only them, they fear everyone.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
Gather experience… Look at what you should not look at. A feeling of anxiety is the sure and certain evidence that you should do this.
—Clive Barker (b.1952) English Novelist
If you knew how cowardly your enemy is, you would slap him. Bravery is knowledge of the cowardice in the enemy.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
—William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) American Political Leader, Diplomat, Politician
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