Fear gets the best of me from time to time. How about you?
If you sometimes – or often – feel overtaken by fear, I want you to know: you are not alone.
It’s OK to feel fear…at least in my world. You don’t have to feel ashamed for one minute. I am right here with you.
I will never tell you, “Just get over it.” I know it’s not easy to conqueror fear. It hasn’t been easy for me. But it’s easier.
You see fear many be encoded in your DNA. It may have infiltrated your bones. Chances are it’s running the show in your brain.
FEAR! It feels so real. So all-consuming. So body embracing.
But when I look deeply I see, fear is really just an artifact of habits. The expression of past experiences which are dead and gone.
Like turbulent clouds passing by in the sky, fear never lasts forever. So how can it truly exist?
I know it’s not the real me. And, I suspect it’s not the real you. It’s not the true essence of mind, which, the great masters tell us, is open, spacious, and free.
Befriending Fear
But I know you can’t just “get over it”. It’s usually not a matter of will.
Instead, my approach is to gradually and gingerly befriend this demon called fear.
I’ve found that coming to know fear as just another passing emotion – we have thousands each day – is a powerful way to begin to loosen its grip.
So when fear comes for a visit, here’s something you can try. Sit quietly for awhile. Take a breath. Say hello. Notice where it arises in your body. Where the tension and constriction resides.
Send some love and attention there.
Here’s a secret: where the mind goes, the energy flows. Just noticing where fear resides in your body already begins to melt it away.
Look into your mind. What’s happening there? Observe the added thoughts that make fear grip more strongly, grow, and overcome you.
Can you allow one of these fear-building thoughts to float by like a dark cloud moving through the sky. Can you let the next one pass through too?
Do this – as best you can – whenever fear appears. Give a little space, shine a little light, inquire about this visitor in your mind.
Yes, sometimes fear will still overcome you. Rome wasn’t build in a day. But slowly, slowly - if you apply these steps – you will gradually disarm your old-time fear.
36 Quotes to Help You Overcome Fear
These are some of my personal favorites when it comes to inspirational quotes about fear. I hope they will inspire and help you too.
They remind me that I am not alone. They give me a fresh perspective and a gentle nudge. Some are the basis for profound reflection, which itself can dissolve fear.
- “The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.” – Aung San Suu Kyi
- “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin
- “Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use.” – Ruth Gordon
- “Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.” – Karl Menninger
- “What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.” – J. Krishnamurti
- “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” – Soren Kierkegaard
- “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” – Marie Curie
- “Our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasures.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
- “Emptiness cannot harm emptiness.” – The Tibetan Book of the Dead
- “Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.” – Rumi
- “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.” – Gandhi
- “When I dare to be powerful — to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde
- “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” – Rosa Parks
- “There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.” – Andre Gide
- “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “So over you is the greatest enemy a man can have and that is fear. I know some of you are afraid to listen to the truth – you have been raised on fear and lies. But I am going to preach to you the truth until you are free of that fear…” – Malcolm X
- “You have to let it go, Neo. Fear, doubt, disbelief. Free your mind.” – Morpheus, The Matrix
- To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. – Bertrand Russell
- “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
- “He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Fear makes us feel our humanity.” – Benjamin Disraeli
- “We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.” – Helen Keller
- “Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death.” – Author Unknown
- “The wise man in the storm prays God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “I have accepted fear as a part of life – specifically the fear of change…. I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.” – Erica Jong
- “The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.” – Lady Bird Johnson
- “The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.” – Albert Einstein
- “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” – Babe Ruth
- “The only think we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “The basis of optimism is sheer terror.” - Oscar Wilde
- “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.” – Frank Herbert, Dune – Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
- “Worry is a form of fear, and all forms of fear produce fatigue. A man who has learned not to feel fear will find the fatigue of daily life enormously diminished.” – Bertrand Russell
- “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie
- “As fear is close companion to falsehood, so truth follows fearlessness.” – Jawaharlar Nehru
- “Am I afraid of high notes? Of course I am afraid. What sane man is not?” – Luciano Pavarotti
The path of fear is not an easy one. Yet, it can be a powerful opportunity for transformation. May you journey well. And remember, I am walking with you.
Do you have an experience of working with fear that you would like to share? Was there a quote here that especially resonated for you?
These articles might also help you work with fear:
Image: public domain
If these quotes inspired you, please share the link with others. Thank you so much for reading. You can also connect with me on Google+ or the Always Well Within Facebook Page. With love, Sandra
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Mattie Stepanek was 11 years old when he wrote this poem on the day of 9-11.
