Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a strong and well-poised life.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart’s controls.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Poet
Nothing can be meaner than the anxiety to live on, to live on anyhow and in any shape; a spirit with any honor is not willing to live except in its own way, and a spirit with any wisdom is not over-eager to live at all.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
He who fears he shall suffer already suffers what he fears.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
To live your life in the fear of losing it is to lose the point of life.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
Who’s not sat tense before his own heart’s curtain?
—Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian Poet
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
Some of your grief you have cured, and lived to survive; but what torments of pain have you endured that haven’t as yet arrived.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
He who fears death cannot enjoy life.
—Spanish Proverb
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.
—Walter Anderson
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look at fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along”. You must do the think you think you cannot do.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
—Marie Curie (1867–1934) Polish-born French Physicist, Chemist
Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.
—John Henry Newman (1801–90) British Theologian, Poet
Joking about death—or anything else that oppresses us—makes it less frightening.
—Allen Klein (1931–2009) American Businessperson
There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
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
There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
People living deeply have no fear of death.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
There are those who are so scrupulously afraid of doing wrong that they seldom venture to do anything.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.
—Karl Menninger (1893–1990) American Psychiatrist
Anxiety is the great modern plague. But faith can cure it.
—Smiley Blanton
It is not death we fear, but the thought of it.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
We walk in circles, so limited by our own anxieties that we can no longer distinguish between true and false, between the gangster’s whim and the purest ideal
—Ingrid Bergman (1915–82) Swedish Actor
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
We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
A perfect faith would lift us absolutely above fear.
—George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish Novelist, Lecturer, Poet
Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
Fear is the thought of admitted inferiority.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Every man, through fear, mugs his aspirations a dozen times a day.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
Fear is sharp-sighted, and can see things under ground, and much more in the skies.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
General Grant had a simple, childlike recipe for meeting life … “I am terribly afraid, but the other fellow is afraid, too”.
—Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Above all things, never be afraid. The enemy who forces you to retreat is himself afraid of you at that very moment.
—Andre Maurois (1885–1967) French Novelist, Biographer
A warrior of the light…never confuses tension with anxiety.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
Better a fearful end than fear without end.
—Unknown
The thinner the ice, the more anxious is everyone to see whether it will bear.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
If you wish to fear nothing, consider that everything is to be feared.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival.
—Hannah Arendt (1906–75) German-American Philosopher, Political Theorist
The habit of doing one’s duty drives away fear.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
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
I was afraid to write “Fear of Flying”; ergo, I had to write it. I have lived my life according to this principle: If I’m afraid of it, then I must do it.
—Erica Jong (b.1942) American Novelist, Feminist
Love is full of anxious fears.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Most of the fear that spoils our life comes from attacking difficulties before we get them.
—Frank Hall Crane (1873–1948) American Stage and Film Actor, Director
Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.
—Samuel Butler
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 Jewish Rabbi, Author
Suspense is worst than disappointment.
—Robert Burns (1759–96) Scottish Poet, Songwriter
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
Humor acts to relieve fear.
—William F. Fry, Jr.
While we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us.
—Audre Lorde (1934–92) American Poet, Activist
Fear is an uneasiness of the mind, upon the thought of a future evil likely to befall us.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician