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Fear

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“And as to being in a fright, Allow me to remark That Ghosts have just as good a right In every way, to fear the light, As Men to fear the dark.”
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The idea of enemies is awful it makes one stop remembering eternity and the fear of death. That is what enemies are. Possessions are the same as enemies only less so, they too make one forget eternity and the fear of death.”
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think that if there were a God, there would be less evil on this earth. I believe that if evil exists here below, then either it was willed by God or it was beyond His powers to prevent it. Now I cannot bring myself to fear a God who is either spiteful or weak. I defy Him without fear and care not a fig for his thunderbolts.”
Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) said by 1814 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.”
Tim O'Brien (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wars are begun by frightened men. They fear war, but more than that, they fear what will happen if they don't start one — or take equivalent action, I suppose.”
Tom Clancy (1947–2013) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Red Rabbit (2002)
“I was born in 1953, a child of the Cold War era, raised amid the constant fear of a conflict with the potential to destroy humanity. Whatever other dangers may exist, no such fear exists today. Mine is the first generation able to contemplate the possibility that we may live our entire lives without going to war or sending our children to war. That is a prize beyond value.”
Tony Blair (born 1953) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Martin Bentham, "You're the boss, Tony", The Sun (28 May 1997), p. 2.
“Let's dance for fear your grace should fall Let's dance for fear tonight is all”
David Bowie (1947–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be a hero. Always say, “I have no fear.” Tell this to everyone—“Have no fear.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you free.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who holds a sword is tempted, who has youth must play, he who does not fear death on earth does not fear God.”
Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To the mouse, snow means freedom from want and fear. … To a rough-legged hawk, a thaw means freedom from want and fear.”
Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.”
Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When it comes to the FCC, the Bush administration helped lay the foundation. But now, that foundation is being turned on. And I fear an event. I fear a Reichstag moment. God forbid, another 9/11. Something that will turn this machine on, and power will be seized and voices will be silenced. God help us all.”
Glenn Beck (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A simple way to determine whether the right to dissent in a particular society is being upheld is to apply the town square test: Can a person walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm? If he can, then that person is living in a free society. If not, it's a fear society.”
Natan Sharansky (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As Arendt pointed out, we must trust only those who have this self-awareness. This self-awareness comes only through consciousness. It comes with the ability to look at a crime being committed and say “I can’t.” We must fear, Arendt warned, those whose moral system is built around the flimsy structure of blind obedience. We must fear those who cannot think.”
Chris Hedges (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The road ahead of you is long, dark, and, I very much fear, bloodstained. I also very much fear that you will take us all down that road. But you must live to reach the end of it.”
Robert Jordan (1948–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater. Keep your thoughts free from hate, and you need have no fear from those who hate you.”
George Washington Carver (1864–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Linda O. McMurray, George Washington Carver: Scientist and Symbol (Oxford University Press, 1982), p. 107
“Quick to judge -- Quick to anger -- Slow to understand Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1981)”
Neil Peart (1952–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hatred does not exist as a basic psychological structure. It is, however, the result of psychological manipulation of fear; and fear is not a basic psychological structure.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Heroism is the brilliant triumph of the soul over the flesh — that is to say, over fear: fear of poverty, of suffering, of calumny, of sickness, of isolation, and of death. There is no serious piety without heroism. Heroism is the dazzling and glorious concentration of courage.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1 October 1849
“Have no fear for giving in, Have no fear for giving over. You'd better know that in the end It's better to say too much Than never say what you need to say again.Even if your hands are shaking And your faith is broken, Even as the eyes are closing, Do it with a heart wide open.”
John Mayer (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is man's duty to love and to fear God, even without hope of reward or fear of punishment.”
Maimonides (1135–1204) said by 1204 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dangers are relative, over time and distance; fear is relative, whether it menaces a multitude or a single life, but it always demands the same answers: a yes, or a no. Capitulate within oneself, or refuse to submit to attrition, fear that eats the soul.”
Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fear Eats the Soul" (2003)
“Not naive," Conch Shell had corrected him, "He simply has not been taught to fear the things you fear.”
Tom Robbins (1932–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Passion is never enough; neither is skill. But try. For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don't tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief's wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear's caul.”
Toni Morrison (1931–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They hate because they fear, and they fear because they feel that the deepest feelings of their lives are being assaulted and outraged. And they do not know why; they are powerless pawns in a blind play of social forces.”
Richard Wright (1908–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“‘When you teach them—teach them not to fear. Fear is good in small amounts, but when it is a constant, pounding companion, it cuts away at who you are and makes it hard to do what is right.’”
Christopher Paolini (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes there is such crowding that there is irritation, and this makes fear or anger; and following fear comes meetings of councils to make regulations; and following regulations is further irritation at the laws that are made.”
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life.”
Yann Martel (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So he died, because for a split second he got brave. But not then. He died much later, after the split second of bravery had faded into long hours of wretched gasping fear, and after the long hours of fear had exploded into long minutes of insane screaming panic.”
Lee Child (born 1954) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Die Trying, Ch. 1 (1998).
“The political Liberty of a Citizen is the Peace of Mind arising from the Consciousness, that every Individual enjoys his peculiar Safety; and in order that the People might attain this Liberty, the Laws ought to be so framed, that no one Citizen should stand in Fear of another; but that all of them should stand in Fear of the same Laws....”
Catherine II of Russia (1729–1796) said by 1796 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At the international level we have become virtually paranoid. The world is filled with dangerous people. Every troublemaker across the globe is a communist. Our obsession is in part the product of a fear generated by Joseph McCarthy. Indeed a black silence of fear possesses the nation and is causing us to jettison some of our libertarian traditions.”
William O. Douglas (1898–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give me a kiss, dearest lover. I'm certain that you still love me, and I fear you always, like some tyrant over me. I don't know why, but I fear you. Upon my word, only you have power over me, you and... no one else.”
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) first seen 1830 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Chopin to Tytus Woyciechowski, 5 October 1830
“Do not believe that others will die, not you.... I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.”
Mary Renault (1905–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If our animosities are born out of fear, then confident generosity is born out of hope. One of the central lessons I have learned after a half century of working in the developing world is that the replacement of fear by hope is probably the single most powerful trampoline of progress.”
Aga Khan IV (1936–2025) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address by His Highness the Aga Khan to the Tutzing Evangelical Academy Upon Receiving the "Tolerance" Award, Tutzing, Germany (20 May 2006)
“I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
Rosa Parks (1913–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And let the fear and dread of you be upon all of the animals of the earth.” Clearly, fear and dread were prescribed for the animals, but evidently it was forbidden among humans. By nature a human is superior to a brute animal, but not other humans.”
Pope Gregory I (540–604) said by 604 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Her voice continued to echo in my ears, vibrating in my head, in the cell, in the prison, in the streets, in the whole world, shaking everything, spreading fear wherever it went, the fear of the truth which kills, the power of truth, as savage, and as simple, and as awesome as death, yet as simple and as gentle as a child that has not yet learnt to lie.”
Nawal El Saadawi (1931–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since I am an immature and wicked man, war and unrest appeal to me more than good bourgeois order. Brutality is respected, the people need wholesome fear. They want to fear someone. They want someone to frighten them and make them shudderingly submissive.”
Ernst Röhm (1887–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in "The Nazis: A Warning from History", Disc 1, 10:48. Also quoted in "The Face of the Third Reich: Portraits of the Nazi Leadership" - Page 139 by Joachim C. Fest - History - 1999
“When you go to Washington now, you can feel a sense of fear in the air – the fear to do anything, or say anything, that might affect the polls, or give the other side an advantage, or offend a special interest.”
Michael Bloomberg (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a child I was taught that to tell the truth was often painful. As an adult I have learned that not to tell the truth is more painful, and that the fear of telling the truth — whatever the truth may be — that fear is the most painful sensation of a moral life.”
June Jordan (1936–2002) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Life After Lebanon" (1984), later published in On Call : Political Essays (1985), and Some of Us Did Not Die : New and Selected Essays of June Jordan (2002)
“Strength is not the absence of fear - it is the fear that kept showing up anyway.”
Kuruvilla Pandikattu (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Discipline is, in a manner, nothing else but the art of inspiring the soldiers with greater fear of their officers than of the enemy. This fear has often the effect of courage: but it cannot prevail against the fierce and obstinate valor of people animated by fanaticism, or warm love of their country.”
Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715–1771) said by 1771 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The brave man is not he who feels no fear, For that were stupid and irrational; But he, whose noble soul its fear subdues, And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.”
Joanna Baillie (1762–1851) said by 1851 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I really do fear that I'm dying I really do fear that I'm dead I saw it in your eyes what I'm looking for I saw it in your eyes what will make me live.”
Rufus Wainwright (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear not the tyrant; fear the tyrant's wake.”
Tom Heehler wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The trick is to make fear your friend. Fear forces you to prepare more rigorously and see potential problems more quickly.”
Lewis Pugh (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Boredom is fear's patience. Fear doesn't want to exaggerate.”
Herta Müller (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sacred Mother has given us these four as blessing. The Universe needs Her Grace. These three energies are needed now. There could be Fear of FIRE , WATER, FEAR OF PREJUDICES AND HATRED AND OF MOTHER EARTH.”
Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji (born 1942) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maha Shivarathri message following Agni Puja (17 February 1996)
“The world, the system, moves forward out of fear. That’s why they have to threaten us to play the game. We’re threatened with loss of job, money, reputation, or prestige. It’s all based on fear.”
Richard Rohr (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source