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170 Greatest Quotes About Fear To Help You Conquer It

170 Greatest Quotes About Fear To Help You Conquer It

Explore some of the most inspiring and powerful quotes about fear covering the essence of what it means to confront, overcome, and even embrace this powerful force. 

10 Best Quotes About Fear 

1. “Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” ― John Lennon

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2. “A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a shortcut to meet it.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Húrin

3. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.” ― Mark Twain

4. “Great work is done by people who are not afraid to be great.” — Fernando Flores

5. ”Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” — Jim Morrison

6. “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” — H. P. Lovecraft

7. ”If you go deeper and deeper into your own heart, you’ll be living in a world with less fear, isolation and loneliness.” — Sharon Salzberg

8. ”Kill the snake of doubt in your soul, crush the worms of fear in your heart and mountains will move out of your way.” — Kate Seredy

9. ”Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” — Marie Curie

10. “Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom.” — Marilyn Ferguson

Wise Quotes On Fear

1. ”Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” — Bertrand Russell

2. “Cowards make the best torturers. Cowards understand fear and they can use it.” ― Mark Lawrence

3. Fear of the unknown is a destructive force. It causes people to make suboptimal choices by avoiding that fear.”  — Cliff Lerner

4. “There is no illusion greater than fear.” — Lao Tzu

5. ”If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” — Sun Tzu

6. ”Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.” — Dale Carnegie

7. “Fear has many eyes and can see things underground.” — Miguel de Cervantes

8. ”Living with fear stops us taking risks, and if you don’t go out on the branch, you’re never going to get the best fruit.” — Sarah Parish

9. ”Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear.” — William Congreve

10. ”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

11. ”The eagle has no fear of adversity. We need to be like the eagle and have a fearless spirit of a conqueror! “ — Joyce Meyer

12. “The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

13. ”Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.” — Rudyard Kipling

See also: 160 Best Quotes About Liars To Help You Deal With Them

14. “A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.” — Michel de Montaigne

15. ”He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

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16. “Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.” — Bertrand Russell

17. “Many times, the thought of fear itself is greater than what it is we fear.” ― Idowu Koyenikan

18. “Fear is, I believe, a most effective tool in destroying the soul of an individual — and the soul of a people.” — Anwar Sadat

19. ”How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.” — Florence Nightingale

20. “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.” — Buddha

21. “Sometimes, when we want something so badly, we fear failure more than we fear being without that thing.” — Matthew J. Kirby

22. “Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return.” ― Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

23. “What we have most to fear is failure of the heart.” — Sonia Johnson

24. “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.” ― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

25. ”No power so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” — Edmund Burke

26. “Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” ― Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents

27. “There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.” — Baruch Spinoza

28. “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ― Plato

See also: Brilliant List Of 120 Light Quotes To Awaken Your Mind

29. “The pleasures of love are always in proportion to our fears.” — Stendhal

30. “There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.” ― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man’s Fear

31. “The real destroyer of inner peace is fear and distrust. Fear develops frustration, frustration develops anger, anger develops violence.” ― Dalai Lama

32. “Fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself.” ― Daniel Defoe

33. “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” — George Lucas

34. “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. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?” — Marianne Williamson

35. “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

36. “There are two kinds of fears: rational and irrational — or in simpler terms, fears that make sense and fears that don’t.” ― Lemony Snicket

37. “Fear isn’t so difficult to understand. After all, weren’t we all frightened as children? Nothing has changed since Little Red Riding Hood faced the big bad wolf. What frightens us today is exactly the same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. It’s just a different wolf. This fright complex is rooted in every individual.” ― Alfred Hitchcock

38. “I am afraid. Not of life, or death, or nothingness, but of wasting it as if I had never been.” ― Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon

39. “Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are things people are scared of. Some of them are things that look like things people used to be scared of a long time ago. Sometimes monsters are things people should be scared of, but they aren’t.” ― Neil Gaiman

40. “The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.” — Brian Tracy

See also: 220 Best Proverbs About Success To Give You Inspiration

Inspirational Quotes About Fear

1. ”I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear.” — Oprah Winfrey

2. ”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

3. ”I have a very positive attitude in life. My insecurity, fear and need to know about tomorrow has fortunately eased. What is going to happen will happen anyway. So why break my head over it?” — Katrina Kaif

4. ”Don’t let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don’t like them.” — Stacy London

5. “Saw a little girl touch a big bug and shout, I conquered my fear! YES! and calmly walk away. I was inspired.” — Nathan Fillion

6. ”Fear not, we are of the nature of the lion, and cannot descend to the destruction of mice and such small beasts.” — Elizabeth I

7. ”Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” — Andre Gide

8. “It’s OKAY to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave. — Mandy Hale

9. “Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.” — Veronica Roth

10. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” — Roy T. Bennett

A woman's face showing an expression of alarm representing an inspirational don't live in fear quote

11. “I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” — Sarah Williams

12. ”Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” — Louis E. Boone

13. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

14. “The fear of becoming a ‘has-been’ keeps some people from becoming anything.” — Eric Hoffer

15. ”Failure isn’t an option. I’ve erased the word ‘fear’ from my vocabulary, and I think when you erase fear, you can’t fail.” — Alicia Keys

16. ”Don’t fear, just live right.” — Neal A. Maxwell

17. ”Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness.” — Indra Devi

18. ”I say I am stronger than fear.” — Malala Yousafzai

19. ”I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” — J. K. Rowling

20. “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” — Mark Twain

21. “Every fear hides a wish.” ― David Mamet

22. “There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart’s controls.” ― Aeschylus

23. “Bravery does not mean being fearless. It means to be full of fear but still not being dominated by it.” ― Rajneesh

24. “Bran thought about it. ‘Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?’ ‘That is the only time a man can be brave,’ his father told him.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

25. “Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.” — Paulo Coelho

26. “Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up.” ― Veronica Roth, Divergent

27. “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” ― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

28. “It is the perpetual dread of fear, the fear of fear, that shapes the face of a brave man.” — Georges Bernanos

29. “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

30. “You can do anything you put your heart, mind and soul into. Far more than you can imagine. Be fearless. Do it.” ― LL Cool J

31. “Do not be afraid; our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

32. “I have accepted fear as part of life — specifically the fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back….” ― Erica Jong

33. “I believe that words are strong, that they can overwhelm what we fear when fear seems more awful than life is good.” ― Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

34. “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

35. “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

36. “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” ― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

37. “Everyone is afraid of something. We fear things because we value them. We fear losing people because we love them. We fear dying because we value being alive. Don’t wish you didn’t fear anything. All that would mean is that you didn’t feel anything.” ― Cassandra Clare, Lord of Shadows

38. “You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” ― Michelle Obama

39. “Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.” ― Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living

40. “Don’t be afraid of being scared. To be afraid is a sign of common sense. Only complete idiots are not afraid of anything.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game

Motivational Facing Your Fears Quotes

1. ”If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?” — Confucius

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2. “To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around.” — Richie Norton

3. ”As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.” — Chanakya

4. ”One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.” — Henry Ford

5. ”Being brave isn’t the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.” — Bear Grylls

6. ”You just have to get rid of fear and confront the world. Look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself, ‘I love you and nothing will destroy you and you’re not going to fall.” — Ricky Martin

7. “I have to face the fear. I have to take control of the situation and find a way to make it less frightening.” — Veronica Roth

8. ”The key to growth is acknowledging your fear of the unknown and jumping in anyway.” — Jen Sincero

9. ”Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” — Babe Ruth

10. ”Fear has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.” — Zig Ziglar

11. “Hang on! God will be thy strength in any act of your pursuit.” — Lailah Gifty Akita

12. “Always do what you are afraid to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho

14. “Have no fear of perfection — you’ll never reach it.” — Salvador Dali

15. “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” — Helen Keller

16. “Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.” — W. Clement Stone

17. “It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” — J.K. Rowling

18. “I think fearless is having fears but jumping anyway.” — Taylor Swift

19. “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.” — Jiddu Krishnamurti

20. “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” ― Jack Canfield

21. “Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.” ― St. Catherine of Siena

22. “Fear can make you do more wrong than hate or jealousy… fear makes you always, always hold something back.” ― Philip K. Dick

23. “Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

24. ”We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

25. “Fear is inevitable, I have to accept that, but I cannot allow it to paralyze me.” ― Isabel Allende

26. “Fear is an insidious virus. Given a breeding place in our minds … it will eat away our spirit and block the forward path of our endeavors.” — James F. Bell, III

27. “Do not allow yourself to be blinded by fear and anger. Everything is only as it is.” ― Yuki Urishibara

28. “Confront your fears list them get to know them and only then will you be able to put them aside and move ahead.” ― Jerry Gillies

29. “Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

30. “Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.” ― C. JoyBell C.

31. “Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another’s fear.” — Umberto Eco

32. “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” ― Joseph Campbell

33. “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” ― Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith

34. “How much I missed, simply because I was afraid of missing it.” ― Paulo Coelho, Brida

35. “Find out what you’re afraid of and go live there.” ― Chuck Palahniuk

36. “He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.” ― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

37. “He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived.” ― Franz Kafka

38. “The man who fears losing has already lost.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

39. “Fear’s useless. Either something bad happens or it doesn’t: If it doesn’t, you’ve wasted time being afraid, and if it does, you’ve wasted time that you could have spent sharpening your weapons.” ― Sarah Rees Brennan, The Demon’s Lexicon

40. “There’s no shame in fear, my father told me, what matters is how we face it.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

Overcoming Fear Quotes

1. ”To overcome fear, here’s all you have to do: realize the fear is there, and do the action you fear anyway.” — Peter McWilliams

2. “You have two choices, to conquer your fear or to let your fear conquer you.” ― Roy T. Bennett

3. ”I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” — Nelson Mandela

4. “Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it… that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.” — Dale Carnegie

5. “If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” — Dale Carnegie

6. “He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.” — Aristotle

7. ”Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anais Nin

8. “I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” — Mark Twain

9. ”Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.” — Karl Augustus Menninger

10. “There is no beauty in sadness. No honor in suffering. No growth in fear. No relief in hate. It’s just a waste of perfectly good happiness.” ― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

11. “True success is overcoming the fear of being unsuccessful.” — Paul Sweeney

12. ”Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.” — Dorothy Thompson

13. “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

14. “I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

15. “You have to conquer every obstacle before you can reach the top of the mountain.” — Lailah Gifty Akita

16. ”Fear is stupid. So are regrets.” — Marilyn Monroe

See also: 140 Regret Quotes That Will Help You Grow As A Person

17. “Too many of us never realize our full potential because our fears block us.” — Les Brown

18. ”No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” — Gautama Buddha

19. ”Limits, like fear, is often an illusion.” — Michael Jordan

20. “Being aware of your fear is smart. Overcoming it is the mark of a successful person.” — Seth Godin

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21. “Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” — Les Brown

22. “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.” ― Dale Carnegie

23. ”Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.” — Napoleon Hill

24. “Fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.” ― Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

25. “The beautiful thing about fear is that when you run to it, you run away.” — Robin Sharma

26. “You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.” — Sammy Davis, Jr.

27. “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” ― Nelson Mandela

28. “The first duty of man is to conquer fear; he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then.” — Thomas Carlyle

29. “Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” — Benjamin Franklin

30. “Fear can only be mastered outside of your comfort zone.”  — Matshona Dhliwayo

31. “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” — Vincent Van Gogh

32. “I wonder about all of the things we miss out on when we stay in our comfort zones. When we stay safe. When we don’t take that chance that could change everything.” — Ashley Hetherington

See also: 100 Taking Chances Quotes To Help You Conquer Your Fears

33. “I’ve noticed when I fear something, if I just end up doing it, I’m grateful in the end.” — Colleen Hoover

34. “Never let your fear decide your fate.” — Morgan Benton

35. “There is enough strength within you to overcome anything in life.” — Lailah Gifty Akita

36. “Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.” — Tony Robbins

37. “The purpose of fear is to raise your awareness, not stop your progress.” — Steve Maraboli

38. “Do the thing we fear and the death of fear is certain.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

39. “We are more often frightened than hurt, and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” — Seneca

40. “Never trust your fears, they don’t know your strengths.” — Athena Singh

See also: 60 Inspirational You Are Stronger Than You Think Quotes

Wrapping It Up

Remember, fear may be your constant companion, but it is not the master of your destiny. 

Let these powerful quotes about fear help you face, conquer, and transcend your fears!

Read next: 40 Inspiring Faith Over Fear Quotes To Make You Fearless

170 Greatest Quotes About Fear To Help You Conquer It