Since 1993 I’ve been keeping a fear list. A list of quotes, sayings, and proverbs about fear. Here’s what I have so far:
A life lived in fear is a life half lived.
—Spanish proverb, from Strictly Ballroom
A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are for.
—Rear Admiral Grace Hopper
I must not fear. Fear is the mindkiller. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing… Only I will remain.
—Frank Herbert, Dune
Some weakness can be cast out by denying its existence, but most weakness must be acknowledged and analyzed to benefit from the application of logic and positivity. Acknowledged but not accepted. So when those moments of weakness come—and they will—I am prepared to look at them, not away.
—source unknown
I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once.
—dune.wikia [citation needed]
Hope is not a strategy.
Luck is not a factor.
Fear is not an option.—James Cameron
People don’t fail. They just stop trying.
—source unknown
I’ve failed over and over in my life, and that is why I succeed.
—Michael Jordan
You don’t become great by trying to become great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.
Your fear of looking stupid is holding you back
—graffiti on the side of a trailer
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.
―Joseph Chilton Pearce
Run towards your fear.
—source unknown
Your inner critic is just the manifestation of your fear.
—source unknown
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
The way to move forward is to let the monsters be seen and the scary voices be heard.
—Amber Rae, Choose Wonder Over Worry
Sometimes, people who are invited to express themselves freely will react with feelings of paralysis, fear, and intimidation. … The cocoon is spun partly from fears of self-disclosure. … If we allowed our simple essence or ungroomed emotions to show, we might look foolish, vulnerable, or unattractive.
—Shaun McNiff, Trust the Process
Some people are unable to surrender to aimlessness because they fear losing themselves and don’t realize that the structure of the art material or the limits of the physical space will always act as container for our expressions.
—Shaun McNiff, Trust the Process