Edmund Wilson Quotes

I'm always surprised to rediscover that there's something kind of scary about life; and that the feeling we have that we're in charge is probably ill founded.

I felt vulnerable and very much between friends. I remember walking down the hallway and thinking I had no way of knowing what was coming, literally. This wasn't because I had some horrific bullying story, but because of a steady drip of negativity.

I don't have control over what's on screen, and that's terrifying.

The world is enormously dangerous and scary. I worry very much for my daughter. I'm not sure we're in control any more, and I think the Internet is partly responsible for that.

I know what it is like to feel vulnerable and fearful during a difficult time.

I know the feeling of confusion and betrayal. I know the feeling of fearing for my life.

And loss of control is always the source of fear. It is also, however, always the source of change.

Poor strangers, they have so much to be afraid of.

We must expect everything and fear everything from time and from men.

You're scared of what you can't control

I, a stranger and afraid, in a world I never made.

I think that fear comes about when there's things in the world that we want to change, things we're scared or angry about, and we can't change them, and so we become fearful; we develop anxiety.

Man's loneliness is but his fear of life.

At the heart of any terror is the fear of losing what we find meaningful.

Fear is a huge thing for older people.

There's so much to be afraid of.

I never feel more alone than when I'm traveling. Alone and, to some extent, helpless. The world expects a certain level of competence and can be merciless when this expectation is unmet.

Childhood was terrifying for me. A kid has no control. You're three feet tall, flat broke, unemployed, and illiterate. Terror snaps you awake. You pay keen attention. People can just pick you up and move you and put you down.

Change and growth seem to tower beyond the control and even the judgment of men.

We are still waging Peloponnesian wars. Our control of the material world and our positive science have grown fantastically. But our very achievements turn against us, making politics more random and wars more bestial.

When something is new, it creates a new kind of fear.

In my teens, I eyed my adulthood with trepidation, as if stalked by a stranger - one who would seize control as if by demonic possession and regard my fledgling incarnation with contempt.

I worry about everything, which is silly because there's very little you can control anyway.

Once you know how completely and suddenly the earth can open up at your feet and the worst can happen, it also, paradoxically, leaves you more afraid of everything else.

When I first walked into Uber, it was very difficult because people were unsure about what was going to happen - there was a real sense of powerlessness.