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Fear
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“Let words proceed as they please, provided only your soul keeps its own sure order, provided your soul is great and holds unruffled to its ideals, pleased with itself on account of the very things which displease others, a soul that makes life the test of its progress, and believes that its knowledge is in exact proportion to its freedom from desire and its freedom from fear.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One cannot be spiritual as long as one has shame, hatred, or fear.”
Ramakrishna (1836–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a boy holding to a post or a pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear or falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger. (283)”
Ramakrishna (1836–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“First there was space—endless, limitless space, so far from everything, so brutal, so frigid, so uncaring that it numbed the mind, not so much from fear or loneliness as from the realization that in this eternity of space the thing that was himself was dwarfed to an insignificance no yardstick could measure.”
Clifford D. Simak (1904–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men! The only animal in the world to fear!”
D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mountain Lion (1923)
“At the vital moment there seems to be a failure of leadership, and also a failure of the general human spirit among the peoples. I hope I am wrong, but I have a sense of impending calamity, a fear that the war was only the vanguard of calamity ... I cannot look at that draft treaty without a sense of grief and shame.”
Jan Smuts (1870–1950) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Smuts to Mary Murray, wife of Gilbert Murray, on the Treaty of Versailles, 2 June 1919, as cited in Antony Lentin, 2010, Jan Smuts – Man of courage and vision, p. 106.
“The American people from bitter experience have a rightful fear that great business units might be used to dominate our industrial life and by illegal and unethical practices destroy equality of opportunity...”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the larger view the major forces of the depression now lie outside of the United States, and our recuperation has been retarded by the unwarranted degree of fear and apprehension created by these outside forces.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Trotsky, and all that Trotsky represented, was Stalin's real fear.”
George F. Kennan (1904–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life consists Of propositions about life. The human Revery is a solitude in which We compose these propositions, torn by dreams, By the terrible incantations of defeats And by the fear that the defeats and the dreams are one. The whole race is a poet that writes down The eccentric propositions of its fate.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The crisis facing men is not the crisis of masculinity, it is the crisis of patriarchal masculinity. Until we make this distinction clear, men will continue to fear that any critique of patriarchy represents a threat.”
Bell hooks (1952–2021) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (2004)
“The fear of being alone, or of being unloved, had caused women of all races to passively accept sexism and sexist oppression.”
Bell hooks (1952–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But many of us seek community solely to escape the fear of being alone. Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” (All About Love: New Visions, 1999)”
Bell hooks (1952–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes I freeze...until the light comes Sometimes I fly...into the night Sometimes I fight...against the darkness Sometimes I'm wrong...sometimes I'm right -- Freeze (Part IV of 'Fear') (2002)”
Neil Peart (1952–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Features distorted in the flickering light Faces are twisted and grotesque Silent and stern in the sweltering night The mob moves like demons possessed Quiet in conscience, calm in their right Confident their ways are best -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1981)”
Neil Peart (1952–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It takes a little more persistence to get up and go the distance I'm not giving in I'm not missing out I'm not giving up on implausible dreams -- The Enemy Within (Part I of 'Fear') (1984)”
Neil Peart (1952–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate, Are the liberators here? Do I hope or do I fear? For my father and my brother, it’s too late but I must help my mother stand up straight. Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive? -- Red Sector A (1984)”
Neil Peart (1952–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They say there are strangers who threaten us In our immigrants and infidels They say there is strangeness too dangerous In our theaters and bookstore shelves That those who know what's best for us Must rise and save us from ourselves -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1980)”
Neil Peart (1952–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To you, is it movement, or is it action? Is it contact or just reaction? And you, revolution, just resistance? Is it living, or just existence? -- The Enemy Within (Part I of 'Fear') (1984)”
Neil Peart (1952–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow him. “Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on the stand.” … The bushel may be the fear of men, or perhaps deliberate conformity to the world for some ulterior motive.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sickened by vermin that feed, in the shade of the good, on envy, greed, and suspicion, by the snake-like hissing of venomous tongues that fear hate and revile the mystery of free thought and upright heart The spirit would cast aside all deceit, open his heart to the spirit he trusts, and unite with him freely as one.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Behind the entire problem, however, is the fear of using one's full power or energy. Cancer patients most usually feel an inner impatience as they sense their own need for future expansion and development, only to feel it thwarted.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Knowledge was what he needed. Fear was what he had.”
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Between the black of yesterday and the white of tomorrow is the great gray of today, filled with nostalgia and fear of the future.”
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You were both correct,” said Morningstar. “It is the same thing that you both describe, although neither of you sees it as it really is. Each of you colors reality in keeping with your means of controlling it. For if it is uncontrollable, you fear it. Sometimes then, you color it incomprehensible. In your case, a machine; in theirs, a demon.”
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Human life began in flight and fear. Religion rose from rituals of propitiation, spells to lull the punishing elements.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is Mona Lisa thinking? Nothing, of course. Her blankness is her menace and our fear. [...] Walter Pater is to call her a 'vampire,' coasting through history on her secret tasks.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In negotiating with rejected lovers or husbands, women must stop thinking they can make everyone happy. In many cases of harassment and stalking, it is clear that the woman never learned how to terminate the fantasy — which requires resolution and decisiveness on their part. Wavering, dithering, or passive hysterical fear will only intensify or prolong pursuit.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not male hatred of women but male fear of women that is the great universal.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do know without fear of contradiction what the definition of life is and it is 12 words long. 'Life is defined by how much you improve the lives of others.'”
Keith Olbermann (born 1959) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Senior Convocation Speech," Cornell University (1998-05-23)
“Perfect love casteth out fear, the Bible says; but, to speak it reverently, so does perfect hate.”
John Buchan (1875–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Think,' I told him, 'what may be waiting for you. You may discover the meaning of Spirit. You may open up a new world, as rich as the old one, but imperishable. You may prove to mankind their immortality and deliver them for ever from the fear of death. Why, man, you are picking at the lock of all the world's mysteries.'”
John Buchan (1875–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I felt myself in the presence of something enormously big, as if a small barbarian was desecrating the colossal Zeus of Pheidias with a coal hammer. But I also felt it inhuman, and I hated it, and I clung to that hatred. "You fear nothing and you believe nothing," I said. "Man, you should never have been allowed to live.”
John Buchan (1875–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Peace is that state in which fear of any kind is unknown.”
John Buchan (1875–1940) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pilgrim's Way (1940), p. 117
“My fear was gone, to be replaced by a numbing sense of tedium: it is remarkable how rapidly the human mind can accommodate the most remarkable of changed circumstances.”
Stephen Baxter (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The idea so possessed my mind, that a thrill of fear ran through me, and I wished to exchange the ghastly image of my fancy for the realities around. I see them still; the very room, the dark parquet, the closed shutters, with the moonlight struggling through, and the sense I had that the glassy lake and white high Alps were beyond.”
Mary Shelley (1797–1851) said by 1851 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The moths are few that fear the flame, but those are the moths which live.”
H. Rider Haggard (1856–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let but faithful labourers be found, who will prove faithful to God, and there is no reason to fear that God will not prove faithful to them.”
James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) said by 1905 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Four: Survivors’ Pact. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1984, 58).
“Neither fear your death's day nor long for it.”
Martial (40–104) said by 104 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: X, 47. Alternatively translated as "Neither fear, nor wish for, your last day", in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou livest / Live well: how long or sh…
“Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects.”
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) said by 1603 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Christmas is here: Winds whistle shrill, Icy and chill, Little care we: Little we fear Weather without, Sheltered about The Mahogany Tree.”
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) said by 1863 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is this, the sound and rumour? What is this that all men hear, Like the wind in hollow valleys when the storm is drawing near, Like the rolling on of ocean in the eventide of fear? 'Tis the people marching on.”
William Morris (1834–1896) first seen 1885 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The March of the Workers", st. 1, in Chants for Socialists (1885)
“Ah! wilt thou leave me then without one kiss, To slay the very seeds of fear and doubt, That glad to-morrow may bring certain bliss? Hast thou forgotten how love lives by this, The memory of some hopeful close embrace, Low whispered words within some lonely place?”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Come — pain ye shall have, and be blind to the ending! Come — fear ye shall have, mid the sky's overcasting! Come — change ye shall have, for far are ye wending! Come — no crown ye shall have for your thirst and your fasting, But the kissed lips of Love and fair life everlasting! Cry out, for one heedeth, who leadeth you home!”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear is the enemy of logic.”
Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I got God on my side. I'm just trying to survive. What if what you do to survive Kills the things you love? Fear's a powerful thing; It can turn your heart black you can trust. It'll take your God filled soul And fill it with devils and dust”
Bruce Springsteen (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Through these fields of destruction Baptisms of fire I've witnessed your suffering As the battles raged higher And though they hurt me so bad In the fear and alarm You did not desert me My brothers in arms.”
Mark Knopfler (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And it's one, two, three, two, two we're all a disgrace McIntyre tore us apart And we dance with ourselves when we'd all found a space Waltzing with fear in our hearts”
Mark Knopfler (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, Will you still care? Will you be there? In my trials and my tribulations, Through our doubts and frustrations, In my violence and my turbulence, Through my fear and my confessions, And my anguish and my pain, Through my joy and my sorrow, In the promise of another tomorrow, I'll never let you part, For you're always in my heart.”
Michael Jackson (1958–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A baby is born into this world in a state of fear. Total paranoia and awareness. He sees the world with eyes not used yet. As he grows up, his parents lay all this stuff on him. They tell him, when they should be letting him tell them. Let the children lead you.”
Charles Manson (1934–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source