Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Fear
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“At Orcus' portals hold their lair Wild Sorrow and avenging Care; And pale Diseases cluster there, And pleasureless Decay Foul Penury, and Fears that kill, And Hunger, counsellor of ill, A ghastly presence they: Suffering and Death the threshold keep, And with them Death's blood-brother, Sleep.”
John Conington (1825–1869) said by 1869 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let hopes and sorrows, fears and angers be, And think each day that dawns the last you'll see; For so the hour that greets you unforeseen Will bring with it enjoyment twice as keen.”
John Conington (1825–1869) said by 1869 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everybody hates death, fears death, but only those, the believers who know the life after death and the reward after death, would be the ones who will be seeking death.”
Mohamed Atta (1968–2001) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Last Night (2001)
“As far as the use of mathematics in economics is concerned, there is an abundance of formulas where such are not needed. They are frequently introduced, one fears, in order to show off. The more difficult the mathematical theorem, the more esoteric the name of the mathematician quoted, the better.”
Oskar Morgenstern (1902–1977) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Oskar Morgenstern, "Limits of the Use of Mathematics in Economics," in: James C. Charlesworth (Hg.), Mathematics and the Social Science. The Utility and Inutility of Mathematics in the Study of Economics, Political Scie…
“If a rapist comes to your door, then your own fears and anger and aggression have brought him there. You have broadcast your feelings, and he has picked them up . . . There is a reason -- there are no accidents.”
Susan M. Watkins (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This Parliament exists - and always will - to serve the people and to provide national leadership which reflects their hopes, addresses their fears and raises their aspirations. It is a Parliament which the people demanded. It is also a Parliament of which the people make demands.”
Alex Salmond (1954–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Odd, how different different men’s fears could be.”
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think Kathaos fears no divine forces.” “Then he’s a brave man.” “Oh, men make their own gods,” Yannul remarked. “I have a god with a fat belly, and a house full of expensive women to attend his every need, and I call him Yannul the Lan in Five Years from This.”
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are very fragile in front of the future. Accidents and sicknesses is the reality. We are born in extreme weakness and our life will end in extreme weakness. So this, people don't want to hold on to that. They want to prove something. They want security. They want to have big bank accounts and all that sort of stuff. But then also, hold lots of fears within us.”
Jean Vanier (1928–2019) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Being, The Wisdom of Tenderness (transcript) Interview with Krista Tippett, December 24, 2009
“Our most terrifying fears and our innermost secret desires for extermination are reflected in this elegant and profound book, without any sort of leniency to attenuate the disgust and hopelessness we feel when faced with a humanity constantly atrophied by a series of values and practices that lead to chaos.”
Albert Caraco (1919–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Albert Caraco, Rodrigo Santos Rivera. Breviario del caos Editorial Sexto Piso, (2006). Editorial text
“Hindus do not believe in conversion. If anyone fears that Hindus are resorting to conversion, let there be a legislation in Parliament to stop this practice. Hindus do not want to change anybody. If you do not want anybody to convert, then do not convert Hindus too.”
Mohan Bhagwat (born 1950) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Ghar Wapsi issue, "RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat justifies ‘ghar wapsi’, says will bring back our brothers who have lost their way", The Indian Express (21 December 2014).
“Maybe it’s not as bad as she fears. Old people always think the world is going to ruin. It’s their job.” “Maybe they’re right,” Floyd replied.”
Alastair Reynolds (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All her concerns, all her fears, began to feel trifling. It was just a trick of perspective, really, seeing things as they truly were.”
Alastair Reynolds (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Opening new fields of permissibility means to go fragile until we destroy the fears that hold us back.”
“I am a man who believes nothing, hopes nothing, fears nothing, feels nothing. I am beyond the pale of humanity [...]”
Olive Schreiner (1855–1920) said by 1920 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Romance doesn’t always start off on the right foot, two people don’t always see the potential in one another at the same time, and thankfully, other people can change us with their hope, forgiveness, and optimism. We can make each other’s lives better, despite all our fears. Sometimes one of us knows that before the other.”
Sarah Schulman (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“North Korea fears an improvement in relations.”
Brian Reynolds Myers (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Here’s what I find odd. While South Koreans’ anti-Japanese sentiment gets taken at face value as the inevitable result of what happened well before most of them were born, conservatives’ fears for the security of the South, which was last subjected to a deadly military attack in 2010, tend to be treated as laughable delusions.”
Brian Reynolds Myers (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For centuries men looked for comfort to their deepest anguish, but all answers seemed small before death. Until someone, it’s unknown who, discovered the truth. And since they saw it served all as an answer to the fears of the first man, they defended it with their blood and with the blood of others, first and then with the lie.”
Jorge Majfud (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a child I had absolutely no notion of what others, even members of my own family, might be suffering or what they were thinking. I was aware only of my own unspeakable fears and embarrassments. Before anyone realized it, I had become an accomplished clown, a child who never spoke a single truthful word.”
Osamu Dazai (1909–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Crewmates, by now we are hardly strangers to evil and hardship. We've suffered worse. God will grant us an end to these sufferings also. ... Take heart once again and dispel your fears and depression. Maybe the day'll come when even this will be joy to remember.”
Frederick Ahl (1941–2025) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Translation of Virgil's Aeneid (2007), Book I, lines 198–199 and 202–203
“At the base of her ankle is a deep, ugly scar she got when a car ran over her foot when she was six years old. That was in a small town in Bangladesh. Thus, even today, she hesitates superstitiously before crossing the road, and is painfully shy of walking distances. Her fears make her laughable. The scar is printed on her skin like a radiant star.”
Amit Chaudhuri (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bad dreams are ghosts of our fears and worries, haunting us while we sleep. I doubt Valek is in trouble.”
Maria V. Snyder (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nobody knew what the Company wanted. Various witnesses assigned motives according to their own fears. Few came anywhere near the mark.”
“The Court has no fears for the safety of the Christian religion. It does not believe that the rock upon which Christianity stands can ever be shaken.”
Sir John Bayley, 1st Baronet (1763–1841) first seen 1050 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Trial of Mary Ann Carlile (1821), 1 St. Tr. (N. S.) 1050.
“[As a vegan] I feel sexy. I feel confident. I’m healthier than ever. And my body is better than ever. … What upsets me the most is the way animals are treated. There’s no difference between a cat and a dog and a pig and a cow. They’re all individuals that have their own fears and desires and personalities.”
Sofía Sisniega (born 1989) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sofía Sisniega Gets Naked for Animals,” interview with PETA Latino (August 2017).
“I don’t really feel like the gender of character is what causes someone to identify with them. It’s the situation they’re in, it’s the way they deal with danger, the way that they deal with fears. And so I feel like it’s a slightly larger question in terms of what makes us identify with someone.”
Brian Selznick (born 1966) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Inventions of Brian Selznick: Latest book makes unusual trilogy (September 20, 2015)
“Oratorical techniques, manipulations, and appeals don't prove anything, but only address our complexes, fears, instincts, common authorities, or values. This doesn't convince or prove a position, but only unites one's own around one's own.”
Mykola Ovcharov (born 1988) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mykola Ovcharov: Everything Needs to Be Verified", in Ukraine Crisis Media Center (19 March 2025)
“We have lost our ability to dream our new selves and a new world into existence. We have mistakenly accepted the resolution to our problems that is designed by people who would have us move out of our rusty old colonial cages and right back into a shiny new prison of coping defined by managed fears and deadened emotional capacities.”
Taiaiake Alfred (born 1964) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom (2005)
“In a government that has lost all shame, that fears its own shadow, the majority tramples the minority, legislation is racist and the democratic space is under constant threat.”
Ayman Odeh (born 1975) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in ‘Racist and Discriminatory’: U.S. Jewish Leaders Warn Israel Against Passage of Nation-state Bill (July 15, 2018) by Allison Kaplan Sommer and Bar Peleg, .
“You can’t play the role of thug all over the galaxy and not store up in the subconscious a fine line of private fears and remembered enemies.”
Andre Norton (1912–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How do we overcome our grief, pain, and our fears of our memory of abuse that traps us in time?... The way to do it is to give it up; do not identify with it. Ask yourself: “Am I this memory?” Obviously you are not. While you identify with your memory and pain, your grief, with the abuse that is trapping you.”
Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are two kinds of thoughtforms: those which are mental and those which are the result of man's fears - these are unreal. But they become real, because every thought is real. Even if it is an astral thoughtform, it is still a potent force although it has no essential reality.”
Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Erhard] emphasized that the aim of a common market was to free the movement of goods and capital. It did not exclude differentiation in tariffs, but he had been at pains to allay any anxiety lest the establishment of a common market by the six countries would mean discrimination against Britain. He believed that he had succeeded in dissipating some of the fears regarding European integration.”
Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to correspondents after his visit to London (24 February 1956), quoted in The Times (25 February 1956), p. 5
“Maybe I have been on the road too long, Living my life through these songs. I guess loving a music man Really wasn't in your plans. Does it matter if I'm sorry again? And why should I apologize> You knew all along this was my life. You know my ins and outs, All my fears and doubts. It's the life I love, But it's you I can't live without.”
“We hope people can set aside their fears and partisan biases and stop thinking that learning from the mistakes of the past means causing animosity.”
Cheng Li-chun (born 1969) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cheng Li-chun (2019) cited in "Transitional justice not aimed at spurring animosity: culture minister" on Focus Taiwan, 31 January 2019.
“This election is about you, your hopes, your dreams, your fears, and what wakes you up at 3 a.m. That’s what I care about and what I am fighting for.”
Kamala Harris (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An old eagle, a blind eagle, who waits hungry and cold and still; He seeks nothing, he fears nothing: he stands lone on a lonely hill.”
Gilbert Murray (1866–1957) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Choriambics, quoted in J. W. White, The Verse of Greek Comedy (1912), p. xxi
“What is spoken of as a clinical picture is not just a photograph of a sick man in bed; it is an impressionistic painting of the patient surrounded by his home, his work, his relations, his friends, his joys, sorrows, hopes and fears. Now all of this background of sickness which bears so strongly on the symptomatology is liable to be lost sight of in the hospital.”
Francis Peabody (1881–1927) said by 1927 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For me, Iran's influence is not positive. I am certainly not an advocate of Iranian policies. I am even sure that they have a red line and a veto on me. But I think the world should engage and talk with Iran and try to see and feel where the fears of Iran lie. The Iranians are logical people. We should try to convince them that proliferation does not serve their purpose in the end.”
Ayad Allawi (born 1944) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: SPIEGEL Interview, 29 August 29 2010 (part 1), part 2
“Whosoever is miserly with the gift of his knowledge deserves more blame than whosoever is miserly with his money, because the man miserly with his money fears exhausting what he has, but the one miserly with his science is with an object which does not become exhausted with use, and that he would lose nothing in sharing it.”
Ibn Hazm (994–1064) said by 1064 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The moment I step outside the safety of my home, I hate how visible I am, how people treat me, how they stare and comment both loudly and under their breath … I do not know how to carry myself with confidence when I go out into the world. Any sense of self I have is often shattered within minutes, and then I am all insecurities and fears, wishing myself into a more socially acceptable form.”
Roxane Gay (born 1974) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: An excerpt from one of her essays as quoted in “Roxane Gay: ‘Public discourse rarely allows for nuance. And see where that’s gotten us’” in The Guardian (2018 Dec 27)
“I am convinced that nuclear is needed. There are many irrational fears but one cannot decide on the wave of emotion. Rationality is needed. [...] It is precisely my environmentalism that makes me say yes: nuclear power is the source that, all things considered, pollutes the least.”
Margherita Hack (1922–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What the oppressor often succeeds in doing is simply externalizing his fears, projecting them into the bodies of women, Asians, gays, disabled folks, whoever seems most "other.”
Cherríe Moraga (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Speaking to journalists, Áñez’s new interior minister, Arturo Murillo, vowed to “hunt down” his predecessor Juan Ramón Quintana, a prominent Morales ally, stoking fears of a witch-hunt against members the previous administration.”
Jeanine Áñez (born 1967) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bolivia president's initial indigenous-free cabinet heightens polarization, The Guardian, (14 November 2019)
“Besides exploiting the Palestinian cause, the Assad apologists have eagerly played the Al Qaeda card to stoke fears of an Islamic takeover of Syria.”
Max Blumenthal (born 1977) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The right to resist is universal: A farewell to Al Akhbar and Assad’s apologists" MaxBlumenthal.com (June 20, 2012)
“Nationalism, tribalism, dislocation, fears of social change, and the hatred of outsiders are on the rise again as people, locked in their partisan silos and filter bubbles, are losing sense of shared reality and the ability to communicate across social and sectarian lines.”
Michiko Kakutani (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are ephemeral beings on a tiny planet in one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe (or perhaps the multiverse)—a cosmos that is coldly indifferent to the insignificant specks that we are. It is indifferent to our fortunes and misfortunes, to injustice, to our hopes, fears, values, and concerns. The forces of nature and the cosmos are blind.”
David Benatar (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Emotions are our victory or defeat indicators, the faces of our wants or fears, connected to an established or pursued after sense of self.”
Aaravindha Himadra wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I tell a lie, something is left out; If I speak out the truth, there is a blaze. My mind fears both the alternatives, But haltingly my tongue speaks out. Words that come to my tongue cannot be held back. If I were to unravel the mysteries, All would forget to discuss and debate. They would then kill our friend Bullah, For only the hidden truth befits here.”
Bulleh Shah (1680–1757) said by 1757 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source