Christopher Hitchens - Martin Amis - Jonathan Safran Foer - Marilyn Manson - The Plastic People of the Universe - Fridtjof Nansen - William Shakespeare - Paul Coelho - Franz Kafka - The Sopranos TV - A Bronx Tale 1993 - High Plains Drifter 1973 - Ford Madox Ford - George Bernard Shaw - Sylvia Plath - Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Blaise Pascal - Robert Tressell - Monty Python’s Flying Circus TV - Noam Chomsky - V for Vendetta 2005 - House of Cards US 2013-2018 - Breaking Bad 2008-2013 - Gilbert Harding - Jonathan Safran Foer - Leon: The Professional 1994 - William Faulkner -
Do I fear death? No, I am not afraid of being dead because there’s nothing to be afraid of, I won’t know it. I fear dying, of dying I feel a sense of waste about it and I fear a sordid death, where I am incapacitated or imbecilic at the end which isn’t something to be afraid of, it’s something to be terrified of. Christopher Hitchens
Life is made of fear. Some people eat fear soup three times a day. Some people eat fear soup all the meals there are. I eat it sometimes. When they bring me fear soup to eat, I try not to eat it, I try to send it back. But sometimes I’m too afraid to and have to eat it anyway. Martin Amis, Other People
It’s true, I am afraid of dying. I am afraid of the world moving forward without me, of my absence going unnoticed, or worse, being some natural force propelling life on. Is it selfish? Am I such a bad person for dreaming of a world that ends when I do? I don’t mean the world ending with respect to me, but every set of eyes closing with mine. Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
Find what you are afraid of, face it, and then you won’t be afraid of it any more. Marilyn Manson
They are afraid of the old for their memory. They’re afraid of the young for their innocence. They’re afraid of the graves and the flowers people put on them. They’re afraid of those who aren’t in the Party. They’re afraid of singers, tennis players, Santa Claus, archives, each other. They’re afraid of truth. They’re afraid of freedom. They’re afraid of democracy. They’re afraid of Socialism. So why the hell are we afraid of them? The Plastic People of the Universe, song lyrics of banned pop group & forerunner to Charter 77
Never stop because you are afraid – you are never so likely to be wrong. Never keep a line of retreat: it is a wretched invention. The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer. Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer
Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour
As thou art in desire? William Shakespeare, Macbeth I vii 39-41, Lady Macbeth
If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid. Paulo Coelho
He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived. Franz Kafka
Ralphie a fucking Capo – over my dead body. The Sopranos s3e8: He is Risen, Tony re Richie, HBO 2001
You think I’m afraid of that fat fuck? ibid. Richie re Tony
We finally meet face to face. Are you afraid of me? A Bronx Tale 1993 starring Lillo Brancato junior & Robert De Niro & Chazz Palminteri & Taral Hicks & Francis Capra & Joe Pesci & Clem Caserta & Kathrine Narducci et al, director Robert De Niro, gangsta to Calogero
It’s what people know about themselves inside that makes them afraid. High Plains Drifter 1973 starring Clint Eastwood & Verna Bloom & Marianna Hill & Mitchell Ryan & Jack Ging & Ted Hartley & Billy Curtis & Dan Vadis & Geoffrey Lewis et al, director Clint Eastwood, Man With No Name
We are all so afraid, we are all so alone, we all so need from the outside the assurance of our own worthiness to exist. So, for a time, if such a passion come to fruition, the man will get what he wants. He will get the moral support, the encouragement, the relief from the sense of loneliness, the assurance of his own worth. But these things pass away; inevitably they pass away as the shadows pass across sundials. It is sad, but it is so. The pages of the book will become familiar; the beautiful corner of the road will have been turned too many times. Well, this is the saddest story. Ford Madox Ford
There is always danger for those who are afraid. George Bernard Shaw
I have always been scared of you,
With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.
And your neat moustache
And your Aryan eye, bring blue.
Panzer-man, panzer-man O You – Sylvia Plath, Daddy, 1963
It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what they fear most. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The eternal silence of these infinite spaces makes me afraid. Blaise Pascal
Everyone was afraid. They knew that it was almost impossible to get a job from any other firm. They knew that this man had the power to deprive them of the means for earning a living; that he possessed the power to deprive their children of bread. Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
Do we have any figures on how scared they are? Monty Python’s Flying s4e5: Mr Neutron, US army dude
The American population is probably the most frightened population in the world. Noam Chomsky, lecture Deterring Democracy, Youtube 2.09.17 1992
People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people. V for Vendetta 2005 starring Hugo Weaving & Natalie Portman & John Hurt & Stephen Rea & Stephen Fry & Tim Pigott-Smith & Rupert Graves & Roger Allam & John Standing & Eddie Marsam & Ben Miles et al, director James McTeigue
It’s amazing how ready people are to be afraid. House of Cards s5e1: Chapter 53, Claire, Netflix 2017
There’s absolutely nothing for you to be afraid of any more, OK? Breaking Bad s5e4: Fifty-One, Walter to Skyler, AMC 2012
I’m not afraid of death. I’m afraid of dying. I shall be very glad to be dead. Gilbert Harding, interview BBC 1960
It’s true, I am afraid of dying. I am afraid of the world moving forward without me, of my absence going unnoticed, or worse, being some natural force propelling life on. Is it selfish? Am I such a bad person for dreaming of a world that ends when I do? I don’t mean the world ending with respect to me, but every set of eyes closing with mine. Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
It’s when you really become afraid of death that you learn to appreciate life. Leon: The Professional 1994 starring Jean Reno & Gary Oldman & Natalie Portman & Danny Aiello & Michael Badalucco & Ellen Greene & Willi One Blood & Don Creech & Adam Busch et al, director Luc Besson, Oldman
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 dear, too, has got to be scared of a coward the same as a brave man has got to do. William Faulkner, The Sunday Evening Post 9th May 1942, ‘The Bear’