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Fear

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“love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star”
E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: being to timelessness as it's to time" in TLS (1954) and in 95 Poems (1958)
“without any doubt he was whatever(first and last) most people fear most: a mystery for which iv'e no word except alive”
E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are two godheads: the world and my independent I. I am either happy or unhappy, that is all. It can be said: good or evil do not exist. A man who is happy must have no fear. Not even in the face of death. Only a man who lives not in time but in the present is happy.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (8 July 1916), p. 74e
“The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.”
Publilius Syrus (101–101 BC) said by 101 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Publius Syrus
“[I]n this rage against slavery, in the numerous petitions against the Slave trade was there no leaven of new democratical principles, no wild ideas of the rights and natural equality of man? It is these I fear.”
Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) first seen 1784 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord Sheffield (30 May 1792), quoted in The Letters of Edward Gibbon: Volume Three 1784–1794, Letters 619–878, ed. J. E. Norton (1956), p. 257
“Fear not, but trust in Providence, Wherever thou may'st be.”
Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797–1839) said by 1839 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Pilot, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
“Oh, fear not in a world like this, And thou shalt know erelong,— Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Henry W. Longfellow
“Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear, and with a manly heart.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Alike were they free from Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics. Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows; But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of their owners; There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel a kind of reverence for the first books of young authors. There is so much aspiration in them, so much audacious hope and trembling fear, so much of the heart's history, that all errors and short-comings are for a while lost sight of in the amiable self-assertion of youth.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God made all the creatures, and gave them our love and our fear, To give sign we and they are his children, one family here.”
Robert Browning (1812–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For life, with all it yields of joy and woe, And hope and fear (believe the aged friend), Is just our chance o' the prize of learning love,— How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.”
Robert Browning (1812–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat, The mist in my face. . . . . . . . No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers, The heroes of old; Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears”
Robert Browning (1812–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fear o' hell 's a hangman's whip To haud the wretch in order; But where ye feel your honour grip, Let that aye be your border.”
Robert Burns (1759–1796) said by 1796 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Inspiring bold John Barleycorn! What dangers thou canst make us scorn! Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil; Wi' usquabae, we'll face the devil!”
Robert Burns (1759–1796) said by 1796 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Not Chaos, not The darkest pit of lowest Erebus, Nor aught of blinder vacancy, scooped out By help of dreams — can breed such fear and awe As fall upon us often when we look Into our Minds, into the Mind of Man.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) said by 1850 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who, doomed to go in company with Pain, And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train! Turns his necessity to glorious gain.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) said by 1850 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Behold the kings of the Earth how they oppress Thy chosen, to what highth thir pow'r unjust They have exalted, and behind them cast All fear of thee, arise and vindicate Thy Glory, free thy people from thir yoke”
John Milton (1608–1674) said by 1674 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are the boys That fear no noise Where the thundering cannons roar.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sacred religion! mother of form and fear.”
Samuel Daniel (1562–1619) said by 1619 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On you, my lord, with anxious fear I wait, And from your judgment must expect my fate.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) first seen 1695 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Poem to His Majesty (1695), l. 21
Also quoted by: ジョゼフ・アディソン (ja)
“Courage that grows from constitution very often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it, and when it is only a kind of instinct in the Soul breaks out on all occasions without judgment or discretion. That courage which proceeds from the sense of our duty, and from the fear of offending Him that made us, acts always in a uniform manner, and according to the dictates of right reason.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) said by 1719 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Fear of Death often proves Mortal, and sets People on Methods to save their Lives, which infallibly destroy them.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) first seen 1711 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No. 25 (29 March 1711)
“Go, Soul, the body’s guest, Upon a thankless arrant: Fear not to touch the best; The truth shall be thy warrant: Go, since I needs must die, And give the world the lie.Say to the court, it glows. And shines like rotten wood; Say to the church, it shows What’s good, and doth no good: If church and court reply, Then give them both the lie.”
Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) first seen 1608 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Lie (1608)
“Cowards fear to die; but courage stout, Rather than live in snuff, will be put out.”
Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) said by 1618 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the snuff of a candle the night before he died; Raleigh's Remains, p. 258, ed. 1661
“Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.”
Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) said by 1618 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: According to Thomas Fuller's History of the Worthies of England vol. 1 (1662), p. 4, this was written by Raleigh on a window-pane, prompting Elizabeth I to add "If thy heart fails thee, climb not at all".
Also quoted by: Walter Raleigh (attributed)
“A wise man ought not to desire to inhabit that country where men have more authority than laws. For indeed that country deserves to be desired where every one may securely enjoy his own, not that where with facility it may be taken away; and that friends, for fear to lose their own, are enforced to forsake them.”
Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) said by 1618 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where his glowing eye−balls turn, Thousand banners round him burn. Where he points his purple spear, Hasty, hasty Rout is there, Marking with indignant eye Fear to stop and shame to fly. There Confusion, Terror's child, Conflict fierce and Ruin wild, Agony that pants for breath, Despair and honourable Death.”
Thomas Gray (1716–1771) first seen 1764 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Triumphs of Owen. A Fragment", from Mr. Evans's Specimens of the Welch Poetry (1764)
“If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble to dust; but if we work on men's immortal minds, if we impress on them with high principles, the just fear of God and love for their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.”
Daniel Webster (1782–1852) first seen 1852 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address Delivered by the Hon. Daniel Webster in Faneuil Hall (22 May 1852), at the Request of the City Council of Boston; City Document No. 31. Boston: J.H. Eastburn (1852)
“Like the cellar-growing vine is the Christian who lives in the darkness and bondage of fear. But let him go forth, with the liberty of God, into the light of love, and he will be like the plant in the field, healthy, robust, and joyful.”
Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where any work can be done conformably to the reason which is common to gods and men, there we have nothing to fear; for where we are able to get profit by means of the activity which is successful and proceeds according to our constitution, there no harm is to be suspected.”
Marcus Aurelius (121–180) said by 180 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Turn thy thoughts now to the consideration of thy life, thy life as a child, as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age, for in these also every change was a death. Is this anything to fear?”
Marcus Aurelius (121–180) said by 180 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Any action that is dictated by fear or by coercion of any kind ceases to be moral.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ethical Religion, S. Ganesan, Madras (1922) p. 8
“I look upon an increase in the power of the State with the greatest fear because, although while apparently doing good by minimizing exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality, which lies at the root of the progress. We know of so many cases where men have adopted trusteeship, but none where the State has really lived for the poor.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1934 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Modern Review (October, 1935) p. 412. Interview with Nirmal Kumar Bose (9/10 November 1934)
“I went to Noakhali and let no one imagine that, because it is now to be included in Pakistan, I would not go there again. A part of me lies there. I shall tell the Hindus there that they should not fear anyone even if they are surrounded by [Muslim] murderers.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Prarthana Pravachan - I, pp. 166-70; The Hindu, 17 June 1947.
“Walter Scott has no business to write novels, especially good ones. It is not fair. He has fame and profit enough as a poet, and should not be taking the bread out of other people's mouths. I do not like him, and do not mean to like Waverley if I can help it, but fear I must.”
Jane Austen (1775–1817) first seen 1814 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Anna (1814-09-28) [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition]
“That these man-like creatures were in truth only bestial monsters, mere grotesque travesties of men, filled me with a vague uncertainty of their possibilities which was far worse than any definite fear.”
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Night, the mother of fear and mystery, was coming upon me.”
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.”
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear of death increases in exact proportion to increase in wealth: Hemingstein's Law on the Dynamics of Dying.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A memory of yesterday’s pleasures, a fear of tomorrow’s dangers, a straw under my knee, a noise in mine ear, a light in mine eye, an anything, a nothing, a fancy, a chimera in my brain, troubles me in my prayer. So certainly is there nothing, nothing in spiritual things, perfect in this world.”
John Donne (1572–1631) first seen 1626 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No. 80, preached at the funeral of Sir William Cokayne, 12 December 1626
“What is needed is the right to print what one believes to be true, without having to fear bullying or blackmail from any side.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1946 exchange with Randall Swingler; quoted in Every Intellectual's Big Brother: George Orwell's Literary Siblings, John Rodden, University of Texas Press, Austin, p. 30
“The British ruling class were not altogether wrong in thinking that Fascism was on their side. It is a fact that any rich man, unless he is a Jew, has less to fear from Fascism than from either Communism or democratic Socialism. One ought never to forget this, for nearly the whole of German and Italian propaganda is designed to cover it up.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In every cry of every Man, In every Infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.”
William Blake (1757–1827) said by 1827 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Which is ideology? Which not? You shall know them by their assertion of truth, their contempt for considered reflection, and their fear of debate.”
John Ralston Saul (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Having to remind others of your American status, fear of being connected to the enemy because of ancestral ties, the threat so prevalent that it makes you put not one but two giant flags outside is not right.”
Margaret Cho (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The example of a revolution and the lessons it applies for Latin America have destroyed all coffee house theories; we have demonstrated that a small group of men supported by the people without fear of dying can overcome a disciplined regular army and defeat it.”
Che Guevara (1928–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The people are weary of being oppressed, persecuted, exploited to the maximum. They are weary of the wretched selling of their labor-power day after day — faced with the fear of joining the enormous mass of unemployed — so that the greatest profit can be wrung from each human body, profit later squandered in the orgies of the masters of capital.”
Che Guevara (1928–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The slogan "we will not allow another Cuba" hides the possibility of perpetrating aggressions without fear of reprisal, such as the one carried out against the Dominican Republic or before that the massacre in Panama — and the clear warning stating that Yankee troops are ready to intervene anywhere in America where the ruling regime may be altered, thus endangering their interests.”
Che Guevara (1928–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source