FAVORITE QUOTES & BOOKS ON FEAR  


[The following content will be changed periodically. Please send in your favorites and I’ll post them now and then.]

    As a fearologist, I have collected not only a massive number of fear quotes (30,000+) but I have a greater interest in attempting to categorize them and make sense of them in light of human history and understanding. Therefore, you will not find the typical, and rather meaningless, list of quotes on fear here that are found in books of quotes and many websites.

    My research goal has been to collect quotes on fear (and fearless) and store them like artifacts are kept in a museum or plant specimens in a herbarium. I believe the fear discourses are important historical specimens of how humans think and talk about fear. I have thus created a feararium to display and preserve these fear quotes through time and across disciplines and cultures. Future curiousity-seekers or serious fearologists are welcome to study the feararium materials. As well, I offer services, at a reasonable and negotiable fee, to assist anyone who would like to order fear discourses (specimens) as quotes for that special event, person etc. I specialize in custom selections for research documents, books, essays, speeches or that ‘gift’ you send to someone dear or otherwise. Original authors of these fear quotes are always acknowledged.

    Full reference citations for the following Favorite quotes are available upon request, at no charge.


ALL TIME MOST IMPORTANT


“We are not bad, we are afraid.” 		- Jeanne Segal, 1984
“In our society we make much of love and say little about fear.” - bell hooks, 2000
 

ALL TIME MOST INSPIRING


"What we need is a fear vaccine" 		- Michael Shermer, 2002
 

ALL TIME MOST PATHOLOGICAL


“… [let’s together] rid the world’s nations of terrorism so that all God’s children can live without fear.”		 - U.S. General Colin Powell, 01/20/03
 

PROFOUND


“It is not power that corrupts…. It is fear…”.		 – Aung San Suu Kyi, 1995
 

EDUCATIONAL


“Education’s nemesis is not ignorance but fear. Fear gives ignorance its power.”		 - Parker Palmer, 1997
“The 17th century was the century of mathematics;
The 18th century that of physics;
The 19th century of biology; and
The 20th century is the century of fear.”
 - Albert Camus, c. 1943-44p
 

“Last weeks school shootings… gave corporate media another chance to titillate, sensationalize, and promote fear at the expense of our nation’s youth.”

 - Geov Parish, 1998
 

RADICAL


“Fear must be entirely eliminated—fear of adults, fear of punishment, fear of disapproval, fear of God. Only hate can flourish in an atmosphere of fear.”		 – A.S. Neill, 1960
 

FEMINIST


“Fear cements this [“Male Supremacist Society”] system together. Fear is the adhesive that holds each part in place.”		 - Andrea Dworkin, 1976
 

PARADOXICAL “JUSTICE”


“[re: Bin Laden and his warriors] A group of barbarians who declared war…. We will smoke them out of their holes, put them on the run and bring justice.”		 - U.S. Pres. G. W. Bush Jr., 2001
“America is full of fear, from its North to its South, from its West to its East and thanks be to God that what America is tasting now is only a copy of what we have tasted.” – Osama bin Laden, 2001
 

PROSAIC & PITHY


“Some have merged into greatness despite adversity. They refuse to listen to their fears.”		 - Charles Swindoll, 1987
 

POLITICAL & SCHOLARLY


“Fear is intimately connected to what some scholars consider the political question par excellence—namely, the question of order.”		 - Juan Corradi et al., 1992
 

ETHICALLY POETIC


“Rather perish than hate and fear, and twice rather perish than make oneself hated and feared—this must someday become the highest maxim for every single commonwealth too.”		 - Friedrich Nietzsche, 19th century
 

DANGEROUS TRUISM


“There is only one way to deal with a power like Russia and that is the fearless way."		 - Karl Marx, 1853
 

TRADITIONAL TRUISM


“Fear is a staple of popular culture and politics.”		 - Brian Massumi, 1993
“In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.” - T. S. Coleridge, 19th century
 

TRAGIC COMEDY


“Being from Earth as you are and using as little of your brain as you do—your life has pretty much been devoted to dealing with fear.”		 - Daniel’s Lawyer, from the 1991 film “Defending Your Life” by Albert Brooks
 
Global Fear - a poem excerpt by Eduardo Galeano (2000)
“Those who work are afraid they’ll lose their jobs.
Those who don’t are afraid they’ll never find one.
Whoever doesn’t fear hunger is afraid of eating.
rivers are afraid of walking and pedestrians are afraid of getting run over.
Democracy is afraid of remembering and language is afraid of speaking.
Civilians fear the military, the military fears a shortage of weapons, weapons fear a shortage of wars.
 

CLEVER (not wise)ADVERTISING & GLOBALIZING


“Fear of failure fear of success fear of losing your health fear of losing your mind fear of being taken too seriously fear of not being taken seriously enough fear that you worry too much fear that you don’t worry enough your mother’s fear you’ll never marry your father’s fear that you will—Group Therapy from Nike—Just Do It!”		 - Ad cited in William Anselmi & Kosta Gouliamos, 1998
 

A FEW FAVORITE BOOKS ON FEAR

Altheide, D. (2002). Creating fear: News and the construction of crisis. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.

Barber, B.R. (2003). Fear's empire: War, terrorism, and democracy. NY: W.W. Norton.

Baudrillard, J. (2002). The spirit of terrorism and requiem for the twin towers. NY: Verso.

Bauman, Z. (2006). Liquid fear. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Becker, E. (1973/97). The denial of death. NY: Free Press.

Bourke, T. (2006). Fear: A cultural history. Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker & Hoard.

Chodron, P. (2001). The places that scare you: A guide to fearlessness in difficult times. Boston, MA: Shambhala.

de Becker, G. (2002). Fear Less: Real truth about risk, safety, and security in a time of terrorism. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co.

Furedi, F. (2006). Culture of fear revisited. London: Continuum.

Furedi, F. (2002). Paranoid parenting: Why ignoring the experts may be best for your child. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.

Gillian, S. N. (2005). Terrified by education: Teaching children to fear learning. Bronx, NY: Phemore Press.

Glassner, B. (1999). The culture of fear: Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things. NY: Basic Books.

Keen, S. (1983). The passionate life: Stages of loving. NY: Harper & Row.

Krishnamurti, J. On fear. NY: HarperCollins.

Massumi, B. (Ed.) (1993). The politics of everyday fear. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Overstreet, B. (1951/71). Understanding fear in ourselves and others. NY: Harper & Row.

Pyszczynski, T. et al. (2002). In the wake of 9/11: The psychology of terror. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Robin, C. (2003). Fear: Biography of an idea. N.Y: Oxford University Press.

Rutledge, T. (2002). Embracing fear and finding the courage to live your life. NY: HarperSanFrancisco.

Trungpa, C. (1985). Shambhala: Sacred path of the warrior. Boston, MA: Shambhala.

Tuan, Yi-Fu (1979). Landscapes of fear. NY: Pantheon Books.

Wilber, K. (1981). Up from Eden: A transpersonal view of human evolution. NY: Anchor Press.