“Our government is founded upon the intelligence of the people. I for one do not despair of the republic. I have great confidence in the virtue of the great majority of the people, and I cannot fear the result.”
Fear is universal, but what you do with it is personal. These quotes explore the anatomy of being afraid — from stage fright to existential dread — and the surprising number of good things that sit on the other side of doing something scary.
“I am very interested in what has been called bad taste. I believe the fear of displaying a soi-disant bad taste stops us from venturing into special cultural zones.”
“Our government is founded upon the intelligence of the people. I for one do not despair of the republic. I have great confidence in the virtue of the great majority of the people, and I cannot fear the result.”
“If you don't go towards the thing you fear, you won't be able to say you lived.”
“Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.”
“On every front there are clear answers out there that can make this country stronger, but we're going to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling. Our job is to make sure that even as we make progress, that we are also giving people a sense of hope and vision for the future.”
“Where fear is, happiness is not.”
“Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.”
“Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear.”
“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”
“Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.”
“I find fear is a great motivator to work hard.”
“A peace that depends on fear is nothing but a suppressed war.”
“All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.”
“Expose yourself to your deepest fear after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
“Fear, anxiety and neurosis: that's just in the suitcase when you're an actor.”
“My optimism is not based primarily on the successful march of democracy in recent times but rather is based on the experience of having lived in a fear society and studied the mechanics of tyranny that sustain such a society.”