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Fear

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“Our poems formulate the implications of ourselves, what we feel within and dare make real (or bring action into accordance with), our fears, our hopes, our most cherished terrors.”
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The person who wants nothing, hopes for nothing, and fears nothing can never be an artist.”
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) first seen 1892 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to A.S. Suvorin (November 25, 1892)
“I can’t accept “our nervous age,” since mankind has been nervous during every age. Whoever fears nervousness should turn into a sturgeon or smelt; if a sturgeon makes a stupid mistake, it can only be one: to end up on a hook, and then in a pan in a pastry shell.”
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to E.M. Savrova-Yust (February 28, 1895)
“Oh, when a mother meets on high The babe she lost in infancy, Hath she not then for pains and fears, The day of woe, the watchful night, For all her sorrow, all her tears, An over-payment of delight?”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remember that every guilty compliance with the humors of the world, every sinful indulgence of our own passions, is laying up cares and fears for the hour of darkness; and that the remembrance of ill-spent time will strew our sick-bed with thorns, and rack our sinking spirits with despair.”
Reginald Heber (1783–1826) said by 1826 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 547
“Take the joy and bear the sorrow, looking past your hopes and fears: learn to recognize the measured dance that orders all our years.”
Archilochus (688–645 BC) said by 645 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Come back again, old heart! Ah me! Methinks in those thy coward fears There might, perchance, a courage be, That fails in these the manlier years; Courage to let the courage sink, Itself a coward base to think, Rather than not for heavenly light Wait on to show the truly right.”
Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861) first seen 1840 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Higher Courage, st. 7 (1840)
“Wordsworth has gone from us — and ye, Ah, may ye feel his voice as we! He too upon a wintry clime Had fallen — on this iron time Of doubts, disputes, distractions, fears.”
Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Memory is not just the imprint of the past time upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears.”
Rollo May (1909–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah! my Belovéd, fill the Cup that clears To-day of past Regrets and future Fears — To-morrow?—Why, To-morrow I may be Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: XX (1859) · XXI (1889)
“The mighty Mahmud, Allah-breathing Lord That all the misbelieving and black Horde Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the Soul Scatters before him with his whirlwind Sword.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: LX (1889)
“I tell you, my friends, it's a sin to pray for the USA. And nobody that's intelligent, and that fears God, will fly the American flag any way but upside-down, the international signal of distress... It's too late to pray for the USA.”
Fred Phelps (1929–2014) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sermon_20010914.mp3". WBC Download Center. Westboro Baptist Church. September 14, 2001
“He who fears an isolated Queen's Pawn should give up Chess.”
Siegbert Tarrasch (1862–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played : 62 Masterpieces of Chess Strategy (1965) by Irving Chernev, Game 18 : The Isolated Pawn, p. 81
“Even a large majority of beautiful music, great literature, and wonderful work of arts depicts human suffering, injustice, fears, and unfulfilled desires.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He That kills himself to avoid misery, fears it, And, at the best, shows but a bastard valour. This life's a fort committed to my trust, Which I must not yield up till it be forc'd. —Nor will I. He's not valiant that dares die, But he that boldly bears calamity.”
Philip Massinger (1583–1640) first seen 1621 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Maid of Honour (c. 1621; printed 1632), Act IV, scene iii
“What a bridge Of glass I walk upon, over a river Of certain ruin! Mine own weighty fears Cracking what should support me:—And those helps, Which confidence yields to others, are from me Ravish'd by doubts, and wilful jealousy.”
Philip Massinger (1583–1640) first seen 1623 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Bondman (1623), Act IV, scene iii
“Both the Oblation Board and the Specters of Indifference are bewitched by this truth about human beings: that innocence is different from experience. The Oblation Board fears and hates Dust, and the Specters feast on it, but it's Dust both of them are obsessed by.”
Philip Pullman (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Interviewer: How do you view the fears of the creation of a "Shiite Crescent"?”
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1934–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Writers are idolized not because they love their fellow men, which is never a recommendation and in extreme instances leads to crucifixion, but because their self-love is in tune with current fears and desires, and in giving it expression they are speaking for an inarticulate multitude.”
Hugh Kingsmill (1889–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When rain has hung the leaves with tears I want you near to kill my fears, To help me to leave all my blues behind. For standin' in your heart Is where I want to be And long to be, Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.”
Donovan (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On fears arising after the foiling of an alleged plot to blow up a fuel pipeline beneath JFK airport: "There are lots of threats to you in the world. There's the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life.”
Michael Bloomberg (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yet, should thy darkest fears be true, If Heaven be so severe, That such a soul as thine is lost, Oh! how shall I appear?”
Anne Brontë (1820–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It may be we shall know in the hereafter Why we, begetting hopes, give birth to fears, And why the world's too beautiful for laughter, Too gross for tears.”
Percy Addleshaw (1866–1916) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: It May Be (1895).
“Through thee, the gracious Muses turn, To Furies, O mine Enemy! And all the things of beauty burn With flames of evil ecstasy.Because of thee, the land of dreams Becomes a gathering place of fears: Until tormented slumber seems One vehemence of useless tears.”
Lionel Johnson (1867–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At the back of their personal troubles, hopes and fears, this less immediate trepidation grew, this intangible suggestion of change, that most unforgivable of all heresies.”
Mervyn Peake (1911–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For a long time I sat still, staring at the passing scenery through which the train was speeding, pondering the loneliness in each individual soul. The struggle of man, alone with the feeble resources of courage at his command, against a universe that cares nothing for his hopes and fears.”
Anzia Yezierska (1880–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, for the sake of momentum I've allowed my fears to get larger than life. And it's brought me to my current agendum Whereupon I deny fulfillment has yet to arrive.And I know life is getting shorter, I can't bring myself to set the scene. Even when it's approaching torture, I've got my routine.”
Aimee Mann (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Vedas are but sparks from They eternal Light.Thou dost symbolise the heavenly couple,Kama and Kameshvari who are dissolved together in all-permeating Bliss Supremeand signified by Nãda and Bindu,when differentiated for keeping up Thy Lila.Do Thou dispel the fears of the world.I seek refuge in Thee.”
Anandamoyi Ma (1896–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anandamayi Ma, "Mother as Revealed to me", by Bhaiji — May 2004 edition P46-47
“[H]e who fears to lose will never win.”
David Gemmell (1948–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why couldn't someone have patience for me? Why couldn't someone be wise to my fears? Tell me why couldn't somebody cry for me This time? And if I should die, who'll be the first to cry?”
Happy Rhodes (born 1965) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The First To Cry" - Live performance New Haven, CT (4 April 2003)
“When the rain came down, I was standing in the green My soul was touched by every tree that my eyes could see I am in peace, in love, in harmony when the rain comes downWhen the rain came down — melded with my tears When the rain came down — flow away the fears When the rain came down — bigger than the sea When the rain came down — then came me.”
Happy Rhodes (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As the corporation's size and power grew, so did the need to assuage people's fears of it. The corporation suffered its first full-blown legitimacy crisis in the wake of the early-twentieth-century merger movement, when, for the first time, many Americans realized that corporations, now turned behemoths, threatened to overwhelm their social institutions and governments.”
Joel Bakan (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The reason conservatives cohere and radicals fight: everyone agrees about fears, no one about visions.”
Brian Eno (born 1948) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: July 19, 1995, p. 159
“Once governments exclude people you can stop them from being protected. Societies begin to manipulate fears about groups. When the welfare state is in crisis we have to be concerned about such a feature of [society]”
Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the amoral herd that fears boredom above all else, everything becomes entertainment. Sex and sport, politics and the arts are transformed into entertainment… Nothing is immune from the demand that boredom be relieved (but without personal involvement, for mass society is a spectator society).”
Merold Westphal (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I get scared all the time. I try not to let it have any impact on the decision of whether to do it or not. I think you can separate yourself from your fears. You know what you should do, and it’s just scary to do it. But I’d hate to let the fact that I’m scared to do it make me not do it. It ends up defining you.”
Josh Homme (born 1973) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Eddy Lawrence, "Josh Homme: Interview", Time Out London (February 5, 2008).
“The optimist believes that this is the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears that this might be the case.”
Ivar Ekeland (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The human ego prefers anything, just about anything, to falling, or changing, or dying. The ego is that part of you that loves the status quo—even when it's not working. It attaches to past and present and fears the future.”
Richard Rohr (born 1943) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (2011)
“The id isn’t satisfied with “enough,” because enough is never enough. The id always needs more, or specifically, more than anybody else. So “enough” becomes “more than” which becomes “all.” And even then, the id fears that all can be taken away; therefore crushing the capacity of others to resist becomes paramount.”
Malcolm Azania (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The behaviourist motto is "cure the symptoms and you have eliminated the neurosis." Consequently, the behaviour therapist's approach is straightforward. He deals with definite complaints of patients such as fears of certain situations, tics, or obsessional thoughts, which are considered by him to be bad habits. His remedy for them is to use definite and explicit retraining procedures.”
Thaddus E. Weckowicz (1919–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 138, partly cited in: Erica Cockrell (2013) "Psychodynamic Therapy" at specialstudentpopulations.weebly.com
“I write to discover something, not so much to set down what I already know. I see ignorance and confusion all around me. I see these things in myself. I'm subject of all kinds of fears and conflicting desires. But one of those desires, the sanest one, is to see through the confusion.”
Philip Ó Ceallaigh (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Few fears are rational.”
Joan Slonczewski (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe that the only protection that man has against himself is the trust and confidence of his friends. For example, my cynicism tells me that the man who makes a career of "people-hunting" or "people-hating" is a man who desperately fears being chased or not loved.”
Bill Downs (1914–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Happy the man, of mortals happiest he, Whose quiet mind from vain desires is free; Whom neither hopes deceive, nor fears torment, But lives at peace, within himself content; In thought, or act, accountable to none But to himself, and to the gods alone.”
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) first seen 1690 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Epistle to Mrs. Elizabeth Higgons" (1690), line 79, in The Genuine Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. I (London: J. and R. Tonson, 1736), p. 23.
“In quiet shades, content with rural sports, Give me a life, remote from guilty courts, Where free from hopes, or fears, in humble ease, Unheard of I may live, and die in peace.”
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) said by 1735 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Religious practice is costly in terms of material sacrifice (at least one's prayer time), emotional expenditure (inciting fears and hopes), and cognitive effort (maintaining both factual and counterintuitive networks of beliefs).”
Scott Atran (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Knowledge of inner processes in body and mind is as helpful for one’s own preparation for death as it is for people who care for others who are dying. If one knows what to expect while dying, the conditions can be used and fears specifically removed.”
Lama Ole Nydahl (1941–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wish to explore what mad people meant to say, what was on their minds. Their testimonies are eloquent of their hopes and fears, the injustices they suffered, above all of what it was like to be mad or to be thought to be mad... My points of reference, therefore, are language, history and culture.”
Roy Porter (1946–2002) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Social History of Madness: Stories of the Insane (1987), London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
“You can find out far more about a writer from his poems or fiction ..because in his stories or poems, his preoccupations, obsessions, moral standards, the quality of his intelligence, his loves, hates, aspirations, belief and fears.. insist on expression.”
Vernon Scannell (1922–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many in my family were ambivalent about it, but my mother encouraged me to put aside my fears. Vera (my wife) and I finally decided to leave Utah, where we were very happy, take a 40 per cent salary cut and move to the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge.”
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source