Lionel Shriver Quotes

Relieved because what I dreaded most in the whole world was going to happen and I wouldn’t have to live with it anymore—the fear. There is the relief of finally not being alone and the relief of being alone when no one can take anything away from you. Here she was, my beautiful fear. Shiny as crystal lace frost.

A lot of my work has been about stuff I've been frightened of: cliffs, explosions, meteorites, that kind of stuff. I would have been this trembling blob of fear if I hadn't got into making art, which is a good way of deferring it.

Being scared by a movie offers a safe catharsis, because the terror is confined to the screen. It's an adrenalin spike, and when I come back down, I feel a bit more leveled.

I realise that stress is only fear. I now release all fears

Horror films don't create fear. They release it.

There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.

I mean, it didn't matter to me that there were people, it didn't matter that I was shy Just the sound was so captivating that it helped me to get rid of those inhibitions.

One of the most gratifying things I get as an artist is when people watch me do these different demonstrations, and they in some way feel empowered by what I'm doing so they can confront their own fears. Maybe it's the fear of getting in an elevator; maybe it's the fear of going on a plane and seeing the world.

To confront those fears, in a controlled environment, where there's 300 people around you going through the same thing, it's this weird sort of yin and yang.

I think that some laughter comes from escaped horror, doesn't it?

The horror genre is real cathartic. It allows us to bring out the things that scare us and get it out and have an emotional release.

I think safely experiencing fear by watching a horror movie makes real life a little less frightening.

When you spent so much time being terrified that you're going to get something, and then you have it, you don't have to be terrified anymore.

Allow yourself to release the emotions you have struggled all your life to contain.

Remember that the writing itself is good for you. If your story is so close to home that you are afraid to write it, it probably means you need to write it.

I like doing horror films. I think it's helped me as an actress because you have to run and scream and cry for so long and do ridiculous things in front of strangers, you sort of break down any barriers, you can't be embarrassed.

The beautiful thing about fear is that when you run to it, it runs away.

To cry was to release all sorts of ugly little pressures and tensions. Like waking out of a long, dark dream to a sun-filled day.

Laughter is poison to fear.

We forget our guilt when we have confessed it to another, but the other does not usually forget it.

best way to deal with fear is to face the nightmare!

The best way to confront your fears it to stop avoiding the situation you're most afraid of.

God, it was good to let go, let the tight mask fall off, and the bewildered, chaotic fragments pour out. It was the purge, the catharsis.

One moment of true forgiveness can erase years of guilt, pain, or fear.

When I kicked in the first TV – a nineteen-inch Magnavox with wicker speaker panels – it felt like the most perfect thing I had done in a long time. And there's nothing like the feeling of perfection that will inspire repeated behavior.