Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Fear
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“People who fear death live no longer than those who don't, and live scared.”
Gene Wolfe (1931–2019) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Wizard Knight (2004), Volume 1: The Knight, Ch. 62
“Courage is defined as: the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action. Many of today’s world leaders have great courage: I wonder... would we be better off with cowardice?”
Joshua Fernandez (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Being the first to undertake a swim is exponentially harder than going second. You don’t know what will happen. The fear can be crippling. It’s much easier to go second. You know it’s possible. But the world is divided into pioneers and followers. You are one or the other. I prefer to be a pioneer.”
Lewis Pugh (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To do anything worthwhile, you will face periods of grinding doubt and fear.”
Lewis Pugh (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have nothing to fear and that is the reason why we should only accept a clean and clear Brexit, not some fudge.”
Nigel Farage (born 1964) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No-deal Brexit 'no problem', Nigel Farage says at Leave Means Leave rally BBC News (22 September 2018).
“The painter celebrates life where he finds it. His morality is the morality of enjoyment, of the continuous development of his own taste without shame or fear. It is a sort of heroism.”
Patrick Swift (1927–1983) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mob Morals and the Art of Loving Art", X, Vol. 2, No. 1 (January 1961).
“The boy had to pay the piper, so they all stay in fear of the neighborhood sniper”
Eazy-E (1964–1995) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Neighborhood Sniper", 5150: Home 4 tha Sick (1992)
“Fear is good for us and helps us to escape from great dangers. Those who do not feel it are in permanent peril because they cannot see the risks that lie at their feet.”
Peter Hitchens (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perhaps the secret of being happy is about letting go of fear , embracing energy that enriches us . Ignoring those who drain us and diminish , channeling ourselves towards goodness and positive acts”
Michael Elmore-Meegan (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that manmade global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure sounds like it.”
James Inhofe (1934–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If by enlightenment and intellectual progress we mean the freeing of man from superstitious belief in evil forces, in demons and fairies, in blind fate—in short, emancipation of fear—then denunciation of what is currently called reason is the greatest service reason can render.”
Max Horkheimer (1895–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By punishing the criminal the moral man hopes to dissuade the evil imprisoned in his own breast from escaping. Fear of self is projected in hatred of the immoral other.”
John Carroll (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men become utilitarian out of fear of the alternative—the chaos of tangled or tepid desires, of rootlessness and boredom.”
John Carroll (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of Nietzsche’s most important legacies to us … is his claim that it is desirable and possible to dismantle the Platonic apparatus of Forms, Absolute Truth, the Idea of the Good, etc. and its historical derivatives, such as Kant’s transcendental philosophy, and that this can be done without fear of falling into “relativism.”
Raymond Geuss (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So many times I’ve made myself stupid with the fear of being outsmarted.”
James Richardson (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There no longer seems to be the fear of retribution, we are empowering each other. We are encouraging each other to change business models, to try new ventures. We are banding together to support each other, to give each other advice, to change our existing culture. I believe that we are on the verge of creating a new antitype.”
Gwyneth Paltrow (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don’t hold on to fear as much as I used to, because I’ve learned a lot about genuinely not caring what strangers think about me. It’s very liberating. It’s very empowering, and I’ve learned a lot of that from Jay—Shawn Carter—Z, because his approach to life is very internal. It’s a very good lesson to learn. source”
Gwyneth Paltrow (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Holding on too long is just a fear of letting go.”
Josh Homme (born 1973) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: ...Like Clockwork", ...Like Clockwork (2013)
“The irony, often tragic, is that by embracing the scarcity assumption, we create the very scarcities we fear. … We create scarcity by fearfully accepting it as law and by competing with others for resources.”
Parker Palmer (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Then in my heart a fear Cried out, "A life — why, beautiful, why dead!" It was a mite that held itself most dear, So small I could have drowned it with a tear.”
Karl Shapiro (1913–2000) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interludes" III, in From Darkness To Light : A Confession of Faith in the form of an Anthology (1956) edited by Victor Gollancz
“81. Agape is the progeny of apatheia. Apatheia is the very flower of ascesis. Ascesis consists in keeping the commandments. The custodian of those commandments is the fear of God which is in turn the offspring of true faith. Now faith is an interior an interior good, one which is to be found even in those who do not yet believe in God.”
Evagrius Ponticus (345–399) said by 399 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear is the opposite of faith.”
Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Do Not Fear Boyd K. Packer, April 2004
“Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, while introversion is simply the preference for less stimulation. Shyness is inherently uncomfortable; introversion is not. The traits do overlap, though psychologists debate to what degree.”
Susan Cain (born 1968) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cook, Gareth (interviewer), "The Power of Introverts: A Manifesto for Quiet Brilliance," Scientific American, January 24, 2012.
“Man is the only animal whose fear of embarrassment can overcome his instinct for self-preservation.”
Robert Sheckley (1928–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the question inevitably remains, is Polletti’s admission of fear a magnificent conquest of the unconquerable, or a mere admission of the inadmissable?”
Robert Sheckley (1928–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beyond the realm of radical protests, there is also fear among many citizens about what this new society, of which the Internet is the symbol, will bring about in terms of employment, education, social protection, and lifestyles.”
Manuel Castells (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The way people think determines the fate of norms and values on which societies are constructed. While coercion and fear are critical sources for imposing the will of the dominants over the dominated, few institutional systems can last long if they are predominantly based on sheer repression.”
Manuel Castells (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My perception of wolves was much the same as any other kid. I was brought up to fear them. But it was through the fox that I got interested in wolves at an early age.”
Shaun Ellis (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At the moment of greatest fear, the best solution is to go boldly and without hesitation.”
Robert Ferrigno (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As often happens, fear showed itself in hostility.”
Michael F. Flynn (1947–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The strongest emotions in the marketplace are greed and fear.”
George Goodman (1930–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rumor, I fear, is scarcely as accurate as he is rapid.”
Avram Davidson (1923–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing is what it seems, boy. Expect nothing and fear nothing, here or anywhere. There’s your first lesson.”
Susan Cooper (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The mindless ferocity of this man, and all those like him, their real loathing born of nothing more solid than insecurity and fear...It was a channel. Will knew that he had been gazing into the channel down which the powers of the Dark, if they gained their freedom, could ride in an instant to complete control of the earth.”
Susan Cooper (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anger is stronger than fear, stronger than sorrow.”
Dan Millman (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bombardment, air raid and blockade constitute the most revolting forms of atrocity because they are not deeds of violence committed under the momentary, blinding influence of fear or passion, but are deliberately premeditated processes of devastation, mutilation and slaughter of men, women and children without regard to guilt or responsibility.”
Kirby Page (1890–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I fear that wisdom is disappearing from modern experience where everything becomes just information. Information is not wisdom. Wisdom is when things are integrated into a historical continuum and one’s personal life experience.”
Juhani Pallasmaa (born 1936) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Aura of the Sacred lecture Juhani Pallasmaa's Agora lecture "Christianity as Secularisation" (15 August 2012).
“...the biggest mistake people make is not acknowledging fear and uncertainty.”
Brené Brown (born 1965) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: New York Times, "Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and of Course, Back In)"- Interview), February 11, 2011.
“The thing that I have learned is that vulnerability is at the center of fear and shame, but it is also at the center of joy and gratitude and love and belonging...If we continue to wake up every day and put our game faces on and think that invulnerability is the way to be … then we pay the price, because I don't know that we would ever fully experience joy and love and belonging.”
Brené Brown (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She is one of the most brilliant poets ever and has inspired thousands to write poetry on the level of the Vogons and cause widespread fear of such good poetry.”
Minnie Louise Haskins (1875–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She taught me this above all else: things which don't shift and grow are dead things. They are things the witchery people want. Witchery works to scare people, to make them fear growth. But it has always been necessary, and more than ever now, it is. Otherwise we won't make it. We won't survive..." (p116)”
Leslie Marmon Silko (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tchaikovsky thought of committing suicide for fear of being discovered as a homosexual, but today, if you are a composer and not homosexual, you might as well put a bullet through your head.”
Sergei Diaghilev (1872–1929) said by 1929 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1999), 260:2
“I use cracks on the sidewalk to walk down the street. I'd always walk on the lines. I never take anything but a calculated risk, and do it because it gives me a sense of identity. Fear is a man's best friend.”
“It is for fear of the grown-up, or at least out of respect towards them, that a chapter must be given to fairies. If the children do not care very much for fairies, they must be made to care. "Who is to care if they do not? Who is to be properly childlike if they are not?”
Alice Meynell (1847–1922) said by 1922 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Over the pasty decades, the fear of terrorism—stoked by consistent exaggerations of the actual threat—has been exploited by US leaders to justify a weird array of extremist policies.”
Glenn Greenwald (born 1967) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Picador 2015 edition, p. 5
“There will never be a scenario in which the infliction of fear and pain on a vulnerable individual creates a benefit to humankind.”
Joaquin Phoenix (born 1974) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The War on Animals" (foreword), Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene (2020), p. 27
“Countries at war lived in a state of perpetual fear.”
Kameron Hurley (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Have you ever fed a lover With just your hands? Close your eyes and trust it, just trust it. Have you ever thrown A fist full of glitter in the air? Have you ever looked fear in the face, And said I just don't care?”
Pink (singer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I fear many working men will tell Mrs. Besant that the greatest hindrance to their political and social activity is the apathy of their wives.”
Ernest Belfort Bax (1854–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The emperor Antoninus was a practical moralist. From his youth he followed a laborious discipline, and though his high station placed him above all want or the fear of it, he lived as frugally and temperately as the poorest philosopher.”
George Long (scholar) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source