Fear

[Xue Sheng]

I don’t know, I guess I am just in a philisophical mood today

Fear

Fears have power over us not because they’re so horrible — even if some of them might be kinda bad — but because we allow them to hide in the darkness and intimidate us. We are paralyzed by these fears. As a great man once said, we have nothing to fear … but fear itself. ----Leo Babauta Zen Habits

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. --- Bertrand Russell

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive -- the risk to be alive and express what we really are. ---Don Miguel Ruiz

The most destructive element in the human mind is fear. Fear creates aggressiveness.

There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings.

Fear grows in darkness; if you think there's a bogeyman around, turn on the light.
--- Dorothy Thompson

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. ---Eleanor Roosevelt

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest. ---Henry David Thoreau

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact. ---Henry James

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. ---Marcus Aurelius

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. ---Marie Curie

Don't waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your reactions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
---Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today. ---William Allen White

Fear not for the future, weep not for the past. ---Percy Bysshe Shelley

Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. ---James Thurber

 

[terryl965]

Great quotes, Thank you...

 

[Brian King]

Xue Sheng quoted

"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. ---James Thurber "

I like this one by James Thuber a lot. Not always easy to do but worth the effort.

Regards
Brian King

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Fear is an instinct rather than emotion, though it is frequently confused for one. Fear is present in all higher life forms, animal and human. It is designed to trigger a powerful set of self-preservation routines, conscious and subconscious.

Fear tells our brains that we are in danger.

Fear triggers the 'fight or flight' reflex.

Fear floods our bodies with powerful chemicals which heighten awareness, shut down non-essential functions, feed the muscles with oxygen and strength enhancers, and hype up the reaction times.

What separates us from animals is that we can choose how we will respond to fear.

The soldier must master his fear and continue to perform his function, as must the police officer, firefighter, and emergency first-responder. Those whose duties include putting themselves in danger intentionally must master those fears.

The child in most western countries must master his fear of injury and establish his place in the social pecking order and gain valuable practice in setting limits and enforcing them, taking risks, and enduring pain, as well as learning their own limits and physical capabilities.

A citizen is normally not required to either confront or master his innate fears, and under normal circumstances, that's not a problem.

For those who choose to train themselves in self-defense, confronting fear is something to be considered.

In my opinion, the major problem is that the base fear reflex says "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" or "RUN AWAY RUN AWAY RUN AWAY" and it does not allow for fine gradations of discernment.

Threat level assessment is a good response to guide mastery over fear.

Roosevelt said that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. That is very true. Fear is a good thing. Letting it control you is not.

They say "Don't fear the night, fear what hunts at night." I agree. Don't fear fear, fear what uncontrolled fear might make you do.

Fear is my friend and able ally. Fear presses the buttons and takes care of many details I don't want to be bothered with. But I decide (I hope) what actions to take once that flag goes up.

 

[Xue Sheng]

more

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. ---Bertrand Russell

He who fears something gives it power over him. ---Moorish Proverb

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear. --- Mark Twain

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

Great quotes Xue.

I find Krishnamurti's work on fear to be very good. Here is some example writings:

http://www.livereal.com/psychology_arena/whats_the_problem/fear_krishnamurti.htm

 

[Empty Hands]

Just for fun...

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
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."

-Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, Dune

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Just for fun...

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
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."

-Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, Dune

I thought about that quote too. Interestingly, Frank Herbert took a lot of his religious imagery from actual mystery cults and mystical religions.

 

[Blindside]

A few more quotes:

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear. ~George S. Patton

There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls. ~Aeschylus

 

[Xue Sheng]

Just for fun...

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
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."

-Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, Dune

Interesting since the thought "Fear is the mind-killer" got me on this philosophical track today it popped into my demented little noggin and the rest is history. And just to prove my dementia that one was rapidly followed by this one

I don’t like to be afraid—it scares me. --- Woody Allen

 

[Fiendlover]

yup fear is the mind killer. :uhyeah:

"FEAR- False Evidence Appearing Real." Mr. Steve Fisher