Donald Barthelme Quotes

Be scared. You can't help that. But don't be afraid. Ain't nothing in the woods going to hurt you unless you corner it, or it smells that you are afraid. A bear or a deer, too, has got to be scared of a coward the same as a brave man has got to be.

When you are frightened by something, you have to relate with fear, explore why you are frightened, and develop some sense of conviction. You can actually look at fear. Then fear ceases to be the dominant situation that is going to defeat you. Fear can be conquered. You can be free from fear if you realize that fear is not the ogre. You can step on fear, and therefore, you can attain what is known as fearlessness. But that requires that, when you see fear, you smile.

Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. It's the mastery of fear. It's about getting up one more time than we fall down.

I have often been afraid, but I would not give in to it. I made myself act as though I was not afraid and gradually my fear disappeared.

You want to be a hero? Learn to create certainty in the face of fear.

The experience of overcoming fear is extraordinarily delightful.

I am not afraid of crashing, my secret is . . . just before we hit the ground, I jump as high as I can.

Being fearless precisely when you are most scared is the best hack.

There's nothing to fear but fear itself. It's an illusion of fear. Fear is an illusion. If you gonna die, you gonna die anyway; it's not something to fear, fear is not gonna help.

I am pretty fearless, and you know why? Because I don't handle fear very well; I'm not a good terrified person.

I could never say that fear really gets to me. I'm not one of those fighters like Nigel Benn who says, 'I thrive on fear.' I walk through fear.

Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors.

Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me danger is very real but fear is a choice.

You don't have to be fearless to do anything, you can be scared out of your mind.

My father says that fear is good; it's the body's alarm system, it warns us of danger. But sometimes danger can't be avoided, and then you have to forget about being afraid.

Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.

There's no shame in fear. But understand this - the coward is ruled by fear, while the hero rides it like a wild stallion.

Overcoming fear doesn't have to be skydiving, if you're afraid of heights. Overcoming fear is an everyday thing. We do it all day long.

Remember that all the others are more afraid than you

It's all right to be afraid. You just don't let it stop you from doing your job.

Somehow or another, my mother taught me to push through my fear, always. Feel the fear and do it anyway.

There's nothing wrong with being afraid. It's not the absence of fear, it's overcoming it. Sometimes you've got to blast through and have faith.

I ignore my fear. When I make decisions, I pretend it doesn't exist.

Don't try to be unafraid. That is impossible. Rather, go ahead while being afraid. That is the entire secret for abolishing fear. The Supermind teaches us to have no self-concern at all. Whatever happens to you, act as though it happened to someone else.

Lewis obediently stared at her, and Kira tried to make her voice sound confident. "You don’t feel anything. You’re not afraid." "I am," came Vlad’s immediate reply. "If you tell him wolves are the children of the night next, I might hurt myself laughing."