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Fear
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“Should the merit of science being fear of the ignorant, and love and honour for the scholars, that alone should encourage striving for it. What then about its other virtues in this world and the other.”
Ibn Hazm (994–1064) said by 1064 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My fear is that this deal gives us the worst of all worlds.”
Michael Fallon (born 1952) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Theresa May's Brexit deal is doomed - Sir Michael Fallon", BBC News (27 November 2018).
“Oh this poor world, this poor, suffering, ignorant, fear-filled world! How can men be blind or deranged enough to think it is a good world? How can they be cold and satanic enough to be unmoved by the groans and anguish, the writhing and tears, that come up from its unparalleled afflictions?”
J. Howard Moore (1862–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In my business, fear is a sane and very healthy emotion. That's because death and disaster aren't abstractions. They're as goddamn real as real can be." (Chapter 5)”
Carl Hiaasen (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My fear is that if we did have another referendum, we might get the same or similar result and the country will still be divided. Somehow we have got to try and bring the country back together again.”
John McDonnell (born 1951) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Labour could form minority government without election - McDonnell BBC News (21 November 2018)
“Respect for woman, the much lauded chivalry of the Middle Ages, meant what I fear it still means to some men in our own day—respect for the elect few among whom they expect to consort.”
Anna J. Cooper (1858–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We fear Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city.”
Martin Lee (born 1938) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Martin Lee (2019) cited in "‘We fear Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city’" on Taiwan News, 6 October 2019
“And I always felt that since all my life, I was always called ‘Debbie’ or ‘Harry’ – so I embodied this myself and it’s just the way it was. It probably still is!...Yeah, so I don’t know – I never really had any problems with that and I’m always surprised when people have a fear or frustration about their combination of sexualities – I think we do better recognising both within ourselves.”
Debbie Harry (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear came in so much in my life that it did everything but completely stop me. When I was a little girl, I so wanted to be sociable, but I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to speak a sentence because I had such a bad stammer...”
Carly Simon (born 1943) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On what Simon’s childhood in “Tales From the Trees: An Interview With Carly Simon” in PopMatters (2016 Nov 20)
“Fear is inevitable, I have to accept that, but I cannot allow it to paralyze me.”
Isabel Allende (born 1942) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir (2007)
“Now that I knew fear, I also knew it was not permanent. As powerful as it was, its grip on me would loosen. It would pass. (p400)”
Louise Erdrich (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear of pollution and an anti-scientific mentality push our mass media to often laughable ads. (p. 107)”
Margherita Hack (1922–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This ain’t bad-guy talk, cos I’m not a bad guy…But people don’t realise what fear can do. I’ve had situations where I’ve been so scared, where I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, and it’s gone on for weeks and it’s ruining my life. It makes you sick, it makes you mentally ill.”
Tricky (musician) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his possession of a firearm due to high anxiety in “Tricky: ‘I’ve lost people before and bounced back. This is different’” in The Guardian (2019 Oct 14)
“As disturbing as some of us may find it there seems to be some evidence that the age men are most attracted to is a young teen, 13 to be specific. Women especially are subjected to ageism. Once she is past her twenties, I think a lot of women, let’s say in contemporary Western culture, still fear losing their sexual appeal, i.e., their worth as women…”
Ana Castillo (born 1953) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On a passage from her novel Give It To Me in “AN INTERVIEW WITH ANA CASTILLO” in Blue Mesa Review (2014 Dec 19)
“The road in either direction is neither longer nor shorter, nor more narrow nor wider than the fear that closes your heart.”
Ana Castillo (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“ANGER IS FEAR’S BODYGUARD, a poster in the hospital had read (Chapter 9, p110)”
Celeste Ng (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mr. Allen Grant, one of Reagan’s top men in agriculture in California, is talking about violence. They are trying to create a climate of fear and violence...We think that this is a deliberate effort to bring violence into the farm labor scene which we know has not been there.”
Dolores Huerta (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We're going to say first "Viva la Causa," which is the cause of labor, peace, and health, "Viva la justicia," which is justice, and then we will say "Viva Chávez," for César, may God give him long life. And then we'll say "down with fear," abajo, and "down with let-tuce and grapes," abajo, and "down with Gallo wine." Because Gallo is on the boycott too”
Dolores Huerta (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Can we live in a world of brotherhood and peace without disease and fear and oppression? Si se puede”
Dolores Huerta (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Organizing is about trying to get people to lose their fear so they know that they have power, and letting them know they don't have to go it alone-they can form a group and then a movement. And then they can bring about change. When I speak to young women I try to remind them that we will never have peace in the world until women take power.”
Dolores Huerta (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s like seeing her for the first time: the human behind the maji. Fear embedded in the pain. Tragedy caused in Father’s name.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the first time since the torture, I feel a hint of the old fire that used to roar louder than my fear. But its flame is weak now; as soon as it flickers, it’s blown out by the wind.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the return of magic and the birth of tîtáns are living proof that we are finally returning to the Orïsha the gods have always wanted for us! We’re so full of hatred and fear, we’ve forgotten what blessings these abilities are. For centuries these powers have been the source of our strife, but the gods ordained us with magic so the people of Orïsha could thrive!”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fear of everybody was that the man might give in and say, "After all, it's her life." However a thing like that is not permitted in Nigeria; you are simply not allowed to commit suicide in peace, because everyone is responsible for the other person. Foreigners may call us a nation of busybodies, but to us, an individual's life belongs to the community and not just to him or her.”
Buchi Emecheta (1944–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While pro-European commentators fear the rise of the far-right on a pan-European scale, Bulgaria’s case illustrates that mainstream parties like the EPP have contributed to the legitimization of far-right rhetoric and policies.”
Radosveta Vassileva (born 1985) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bulgaria’s dangerous flirtation with the far-right, "", New Eastern Europe, May 21, 2019
“The truths are universal: Every kid knows fear. Every kid knows family and friendship. Loss, love, laughter. Everything else is just detail.”
Jason Reynolds (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There’s a golden moment now to be had for everybody’s security, and it’s been thwarted by this mindless… I mean, you can hate on Trump all you want, but there’s got to be a higher priority and that’s got to be international American security, and we’re letting that opportunity slip away, I fear.”
Stephen F. Cohen (1938–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“…The responsibility, the burden, is much heavier for us. If we don’t exercise our collective imagination—and not just documentation —we’ll always be at a certain disadvantage. I think what literature could provide us with is showing other possibilities. What I fear most is homogeneity.”
Rawi Hage (born 1964) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the burden of racialized writers to represent their communities in “‘What I Fear Most is Homogeneity’: An Interview with Rawi Hage” in Hazlitt (2018 Sep 12)
“I have a deep fear of hurting people…I don’t want to be seen as this kind of person. I don’t want my work to be seen as this type of work.”
Damon Young (writer) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the backlash he faced after writing a controversial article about sexual harassment in “White People Often Don’t See Damon Young. That’s About to Change.” in Mother Jones (March/April 2019)
“Beautiful people make even those of us who proudly consider ourselves unmoved by another's appearance dumb with admiration and fear and delight, and struck by the profound, enervating awareness of how inadequate we are, how nothing, not intelligence or education or money, can usurp or overpower or deny beauty.”
Hanya Yanagihara (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is astonishing and a little sad to realize how many discoveries, how many advancements, have been delayed for years, for decades, not because the information was unavailable but because of sheer cowardice, fear of being laughed at, of being ostracized by one's colleagues.”
Hanya Yanagihara (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No evil comes from the fear of hell, no good comes from the promise of heaven.”
Ron English (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s not God I fear but the woman who bore him.”
Ron English (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a homegrown ideology of reaction in the United States, inextricably tied to our system of slavery. And while that ideology no longer carries the explicit racism of the past, the basic framework remains: fear of rival political majorities; of demographic "replacement"; of a government that threatens privilege and hierarchy.”
Jamelle Bouie (born 1987) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, we’ve got 330 million Americans 280 million of whom I’m convinced, are ignorant, apathetic, fearful, etc, etc. And you tell them anything, and they’ll believe it. And if you give them the politics of fear, as a daily food, they will believe you. They will go along with you.”
Lawrence Wilkerson (born 1945) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Iran Crisis: Have We Learned Nothing from the Iraq war? The Intercept, Mehdi Hasan (20 June 2019)
“It is clear that 'social Darwinism' and 'survival of the fittest' were intended by Obama to evoke feelings of fear and disgust. It is highly doubtful that Obama knows anything about the history of these ideas, and it is even more doubtful that he cares. A concern for truth is not the coin of the political realm.”
George H. Smith (1949–2022) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Barack Obama, Social Darwinism, and Survival of the Fittest, Part 1” Libertarianism.org (10 April 2012)
“Trump and nationalist, anti-immigrant leaders on the right in Europe... would inflame... feelings of fear and anger and , offering s instead of solutions...”
Michiko Kakutani (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hate comes from the past, fear from the future. Pain and pleasure are now, and therefore their own trap.”
Steven Barnes (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...children are our treasures. They hold the promise of the future and therefore, it is only right that they should be given every opportunity to develop their physical, mental and spiritual potential to the fullest extent in an environment free of want and free of fear...”
Jigme Singye Wangchuck (born 1955) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Message during the international year of the child, 28 July 1979, quoted in The Talking Mountains (26 Oct 2015)
“The threat of is the number one health security concern, are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no.”
Luciana Borio first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At a symposium at in Atlanta in 2018, marking the 100th anniversary of 1918 flu pandemic. As quoted in Contrary to Trump’s Claim, A Pandemic Was Widely Expected at Some Point (March 20, 2020) by Rem Rieder, .
“[Do you think EC has done enough to check hate speech in the elections?] I think they could have done much more. They could have stopped whatever is going on. They did take some steps but after the bans were lifted, they began all over again…lost any fear.”
Arvind Kejriwal (born 1968) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: We are not soft nationalists, we are hardcore nationalists: Arvind Kejriwal Subhendu Mukherjee & Alok KN Mishra | TNN | Updated: Feb 6, 2020,
“Until you’ve truly connected with that inner transforming force in your Self, fear is more powerful in your life than love.”
Aaravindha Himadra wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[If evolution had been guided, the Earth would have become] the abode of a vast diversity of creatures dwelling in concord (instead of) a place of mixed character, where beauty and ugliness, peace and fear, happiness and horror, mingle together in the most perplexing contrasts.”
Alexander Skutch (1904–2004) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Imperative Call", American Birds, Vol. 47, Iss. 1 (Spring 1993), p. 32
“The world has so multiplied the causes of fear that no one is left entirely unafraid.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch. II - p.12 [Page numbers per the Coronet Books 1972 edition]
“'The dove is not a coward to fear the hawk; it is simply wise.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is the greatest thing women fear from men? That he’ll leave them for another. So that other woman is another woman, right? The other woman is not a man. They’re bringing each other down on the one hand and raising a fuss about it too.”
Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's very simple: We fear most what we understand the least.”
Merlin Tuttle (born 1941) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (originally aired on November 27, 1984 — quote at 2:05 of 10:15)
“I, along with my Office, execute our mandate under the Rome Statute with utmost independence, objectivity, fairness and professional integrity. We will continue to meet our responsibilities as required by the Rome Statute without fear or favor.”
Fatou Bensouda (born 1961) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in ICC delays jurisdiction ruling on Israel war crimes case over document length, Times of Israel, (22 January 2020)
“If one is strong to be also merciful, so that one’s neighbors may respect one rather than fear one.”
Chilon of Sparta (600–520 BC) said by 520 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to improve our response now, based on science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged. There will be likely a resurgence of Covid-19 this fall that will be greatly compounded by the challenges of seasonal influenza. Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history.”
Rick Bright (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source