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Fear quotes

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“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom” - 1995

“Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.” William Shakespeare, “Hamlet” - 1623

“Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” J. K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” - 1997

“In time we hate that which we often fear.” William Shakespeare, “Antony and Cleopatra” - 1623

“The man who fears losing has already lost.” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“We can't be brave without fear.” Muhammad Ali, “The Soul of a Butterfly” - 2004

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” Paulo Coelho, “The Alchemist” - 1988

“I don't know how long it will last, but I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship.” Louisa May Alcott, “Little Women” - 1868

“Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win By fearing to attempt.” William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure” - 1623

“He had a word, too. Love, he called it. But I had been used to words for a long time. I knew that that word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack; that when the right time came, you wouldn’t need a word for that anymore than for...” William Faulkner, “As I Lay Dying” - 1930

“Be not afraid of greatness.” William Shakespeare, “Twelfth Night” - 1623

“Laughter is poison to fear.” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man.” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom” - 1995

“The development from a religion of fear to moral religion is a great step in a nation's life.” Albert Einstein, “The world as I see it” - 1949

“Worry is a form of fear, and all forms of fear produce fatigue.” Bertrand Russell, “The Conquest of Happiness” - 1930

“But life is a great adventure, and the worst of all fears is the fear of living.” Theodore Roosevelt, “Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography” - 1913

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.” Paulo Coelho, “The Alchemist” - 1988

“Don't say any more about what danger I'm in, I only fear danger where I want to fear it.” Franz Kafka, “The Trial” - 1925

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” Barack Obama, “Inaugural Address” - 20 January 2009

“RELIGION, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.” Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil's Dictionary” - 1911

“He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.” Michel de Montaigne, “The Essays of Michel de Montaigne” - 1580

“Whatever your goal is you will never succeed unless you let go of your fears and fly.” Richard Branson, “Screw It, Let's Do It” - 2006

“Never trust any ruler who puts his faith in tunnels and bunkers and escape routes. The chances are that his heart isn’t in the job.” Terry Pratchett, “Guards! Guards!” - 1989

“He was moving from an unreality that was frightening into a reality that was unreal because it was new.” Ray Bradbury, “Fahrenheit 451” - 1953

“Rather do I fear to lose truth by this pretension to possess it already wholly.” William James, “The Varieties of Religious Experience” - 1902

“From these definitions it follows, that there is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.” Baruch Spinoza, “Ethics” - 1677

“It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” J. K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” - 2005

“Fear cuts deeper than swords.” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” Mark Twain, “Pudd'nhead Wilson” - 1894

“Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful.” Mary Shelley, “Frankenstein” - 1818

“When our actions do not, our fears do make us traitors.” William Shakespeare, “Macbeth” - 1623

“Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear; Where little fears grow great, great love grows there.” William Shakespeare, “Hamlet” - 1623

“To fear the worst oft cures the worse.” William Shakespeare, “Troilus and Cressida” - 1609

“Of all base passions fear is most accurs'd.” William Shakespeare, “Henry VI, Part 1” - 1623

“Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.” William Shakespeare, “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” - 1609

“Against love's fire fear's frost hath dissolution.” William Shakespeare, “The Rape of Lucrece” - 1594

“Now most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.” G. K. Chesterton, “What's Wrong with the World” - 1910

“Now, don't be angry after you've been afraid.” Rudyard Kipling, “The Jungle Book” - 1894

“Then inch by inch out of the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag, the big black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail.” Rudyard Kipling, “The Jungle Book” - 1894

“She knew as well as I did that if there is one thing in the world the elephant is more afraid of than another it is a little barking dog.” Rudyard Kipling, “The Jungle Book” - 1894

“Fear no more, says the heart in the body; fear no more.” Virginia Woolf, “Mrs Dalloway” - 1925

“Thus it was that in obedience to the law laid down by his mother, and in obedience to the law of that unknown and nameless thing, fear, he kept away from the mouth of the cave.” Jack London, “White Fang” - 1906

“How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads, to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.” Bram Stoker, “Dracula” - 1897

“I suppose that we women are such cowards that we think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him.” Bram Stoker, “Dracula” - 1897

“Boredom is therefore a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.” Bertrand Russell, “The Conquest of Happiness” - 1930

“It is the fear of losing their employment which restrains his frauds and corrects his negligence.” Adam Smith, “The Wealth of Nations” - 1776

“But when he has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” Plato, “The Republic”

“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.” Confucius, “Analects”

“Of course, a fool, what with sheer fright and fine sentiments, is always safe.” Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness” - 1899

Related topics

courage bravery hope love death life doubt darkness danger religion failure truth leadership suffering heart power joy dreams peace laughter

Related authors

William Shakespeare (11)
George R. R. Martin (4)
Rudyard Kipling (3)
J. K. Rowling (2)
Nelson Mandela (2)
Bram Stoker (2)
Bertrand Russell (2)
Paulo Coelho (2)
L. Frank Baum (2)
Ray Bradbury (2)
Oprah Winfrey (2)
Thomas Hobbes (2)
Baruch Spinoza (2)
Oscar Wilde (1)
William Faulkner (1)
Mark Twain (1)
G. K. Chesterton (1)
Albert Einstein (1)
Muhammad Ali (1)
Virginia Woolf (1)

Related sources

A Game of Thrones (4)
The Jungle Book (3)
Hamlet (2)
Long Walk to Freedom (2)
Dracula (2)
The Conquest of Happiness (2)
The Alchemist (2)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2)
Fahrenheit 451 (2)
What I Know For Sure (2)
Leviathan (2)
Ethics (2)
Twelfth Night (1)
Macbeth (1)
Julius Caesar (1)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1)
As I Lay Dying (1)
Antony and Cleopatra (1)
Measure for Measure (1)
Troilus and Cressida (1)