Mary Catherine Bateson Quotes

I don't think fear can be abolished.

A lot of children, like I did, move away from words because of the fear - which is something you have to take out of education: the fear of worrying about what marks you'll get, detention, worrying about letting people down, your parents, teachers.

I'm not scared of anything in particular, but I am motivated by a fear of failure as opposed to a need to succeed.

Fear is not a lasting teacher of duty.

Fear runs our lives. It doesn't matter who you are. You have to understand your relationship with fear. Whether you're scared of getting into a relationship; or taking the new job; or a confrontation - you have to size fear up.

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.

Fear is the enemy. I distrust it. Any feeling or decision I make that might be motivated by fear I quickly reassess.

In all the difficult decisions that I made through the course of running Loudcloud and Opsware, I never once felt brave. In fact, I often felt scared to death. I never lost those feelings, but after much practice, I learned to ignore them. That learning process might also be called the courage development process.

A good teacher, like a good entertainer first must hold his audience's attention, then he can teach his lesson.

A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.

Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks.

We all have fears, especially when we're younger. I was afraid of clowns.

The thing that makes me feel most alive is knowing that there's something that I have to do that I'm afraid of.

I feel like my consignment and fear from people pushed me to become a performer.

[F]ear is a great ally.

If your body is excited to do something, that's what you should be doing. Or if it really scares you, you should be doing it.

A good teacher must be able to put himself in the place of those who find learning hard.

Failure? Scared to death of it.

I think every writer doubts themselves, every day. You procrastinate because you're afraid. You're always afraid it's not going to be as good as you want it to be. But, the key is overcoming fear.

I had a teacher in college who drastically changed the course of my life by telling me that he believed in me as an actor. I never received that support before, and it inspired to me to such a degree that I never looked back. He taught me that it's okay to be crappy; it's okay to fight; it's okay to go to any length.

I'm still shy - I'm no good at my children's parent-teacher conferences, and I'm slowly learning how to ask for what I want. But I now know that I have a reserve of courage to draw upon when I really need it. There's nothing that I'm too scared to have a go at.

It's easy when you grow up in fear to act out of fear. I don't want to embrace that fear; I prefer to be kind.

I think sometimes parents and teachers fail to stretch kids. My mother had a very good sense of how to stretch me just slightly outside my comfort zone.

Better be killed than frightened to death.

So what does a good teacher do? Create tension - but just the right amount.