John Henrik Clarke Quotes

Whether you're scared of getting into a relationship; or taking the new job; or a confrontation - you have to size fear up.

I'm sick of running away from things.

"They tell us that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, but I don't believe that." he said. Then, a moment later, he added: "Oh, the fear is there, all right. It comes to us in many different forms, at different times, and overwhelms us. But the most frightening thing we can do at such times is to turn our backs on it, to close our eyes. For then we take the most precious thing inside us and surrender it to something else. In my case, that something was the wave."

She walked fast, to keep ahead of her fear.

I have to keep facing the darkness. If I stand tall and face the thing I fear, I have a chance to conquer it. If I just keep dodging and hiding it will conquer me.

To fight fear, act. To increase fear - wait, put off postpone.

By running from what we fear, we feed the inner darkness

I believe that words are strong, that they can overwhelm what we fear when fear seems more awful than life is good.

The only thing that can combat fear is action. And there's two actions. There's fight and flight.

Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up

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

Now, don't be angry after you've been afraid. That's the worst kind of cowardice.

Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do.

Whenever there is fear, there is opportunity. When there is great fear, there is great opportunity.

We have lived through fear all our lives, and when you have gone through a whole lot of fear, sometimes all you can do is resist the fear, and resistance comes in the form of courage.

When I'm scared - and I'm always scared when I have to face an audience, when I have to read a review, when I publish a book...then, I think of my grandfather. My grandfather was this strong, tough Basque who would never bend....What would he do? Well, he would go ahead, close his eyes, and drive forward. You do it and the spirit that is within you....is there.

You can't be afraid until you have no other option but to be afraid.

We are always more afraid than we wish to be, but we can always be braver than we expect.

Trying and getting hurt can't possibly be worse for you than being... stuck.

Surrendering to fear and allowing ourselves to be paralyzed by peril isn't something most of us can afford to do.

You can't avoid fear. No magic potion will take it away. And you can't wait for motivation to get you going. To conquer fear, you have to feel the fear and take action anyway.

As a young man, I yearned for the day when, rooted in the experience that comes only with age, I could do my work fearlessly. But today, in my mid-sixties, I realize that I will feel fear from time to time for the rest of my life. I may never get rid of my fear. But . . . I can learn to walk into it and through it whenever it rises up . . . naming the inner force that triggers . . . fear . . . Naming our fears aloud . . . is the first step toward transcending them.

He who fears dangers will not perish by them.

We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.

Living fearlessly is not the same as never being afraid. It's good to be afraid occasionally. Fear is a great teacher.