75 Inspirational Quotes On Facing Your Fears

Fear quotes to inspire bravery!

Fear Quotes — 75 Inspirational Quotes On Facing Your Fears YourTango
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Fear is an emotion that everyone experiences. But just because everyone has fear doesn't mean they let it get in their way.

Fear quotes can empower you to be brave. 

From your stage fright to your fear of public speaking, fear is so powerful because it can stop you from achieving your goals.

You can’t avoid fear, but you can handle fear and overcome it by taking a big risk.

Here are 75 inspirational fear quotes to help you overcome your greatest fears:

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RELATED: How To Overcome Your Biggest Fears In 7 Manageable Steps

A famous quote about fear is “face your fears.” There are many other inspirational thoughts that can encourage you to take that essential leap of faith.

Thought-provoking quotes about fear:

1. "We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets." — Marilyn Monroe

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2. "The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." — Nelson Mandela

3. "Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones." — Thich Nhat Hanh

4. “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." — Eleanor Roosevelt

5. "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." — Yoda

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6. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

7. “People living deeply have no fear of death.”— Anais Nin

8. “Laughter is poison to fear.” — George R.R. Martin

9. “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” — Bertrand Russell

10. “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” — Helen Keller

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11. “Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.”— Rudyard Kipling

12. “Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.” — James Stephens

13. “Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.” — Karl Augustus Menninger

14. “You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.” — Eric Hoffer

15. “Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death.” — James F. Byrnes

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16. “Fear is the lengthened shadow of ignorance.” — Arnold Glasow

17. “Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it… that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.” — Dale Carnegie

18. “Fear makes us feel our humanity.” — Benjamin Disraeli

19. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” — Marcus Aurelius

20. “To overcome fear, here’s all you have to do: realize the fear is there, and do the action you fear anyway.” — Peter McWilliams

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21. “Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.” — Aristotle

22. “In time we hate that which we often fear.” — William Shakespeare

23. “Fear is the needle that pierces us that it may carry a thread to bind us to heaven.” — James Hastings

24. “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” — Jack Canfield

25. “There are times when fear is good.  It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls.” — Aeschylus

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RELATED: Why These 4 Common Fears May Be Killing Your Chances Of Finding True Love

Inspirational quotes about fear:

26. “Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.” — Shirley Maclaine

shirley maclaine fear quotes

27. “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.”— Gandhi

28. “The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.” — John C. Maxwell

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29. “Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” — Louis E. Boone

30. “There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.” — Andre Gide

31. “The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.” — Lady Bird Johnson

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32. “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” — Marie Curie

33. “If you’re not willing to risk, you cannot grow. If you cannot grow, you cannot be your best. If you cannot be your best, you cannot be happy. If you cannot be happy, what else is there?” — Les Brown

34. “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” — Soren Kierkegaard

35. “Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.” — Virgil Thomson

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36. “Fear of self is the greatest of all terrors, the deepest of all dread, the commonest of all mistakes. From it grows failure. Because of it, life is a mockery. Out of it comes despair.”— David Seasbury

37. “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” — Plato

38. “Do one thing every day that scares you.”― Eleanor Roosevelt

39. “Bran thought about it. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave,' his father told him.” ― George R.R. Martin

40. “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” ― Jane Austen

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jane austen fear quotes

41. “Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.” ― Salvador Dali

42. “Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart.” ― Paulo Coelho

43. “Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it.” ― C. JoyBell C.

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44. “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.” ― Dan Brown

45. “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. “― Frank Herbert

frank herbert fear quotes

46. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” ― Paulo Coelho

47. “Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy.” — Yann Martel

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48. “I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back....” ― Erica Jong

49. “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.” ― Dan Brown

50. “Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up.” ― Veronica Roth

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Motivational quotes about overcoming fear:

51. "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." — Babe Ruth

babe ruth fear quotes

52. "No man is a failure who is enjoying life." — William Feather

53. "Do not be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." — John Rockefeller

54. "Fear is in the eye of the beholder." — Your Best Friend

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55. "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" — Vincent van Gogh

vincent van gogh fear quotes

56. "When you are afraid, do the thing you are afraid of and soon you will lose your fear of it." — Norman Vincent Peale

57. "Where fear is, happiness is not." — Seneca

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58. "You miss 100% of the shots you didn't take." — Wayne Gretzky

59. "Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out." — Benjamin Franklin

60. "Extreme fear can neither fight nor fly." — William Shakespeare

william shakespeare fear quotes

61. "One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do." — Henry Ford

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62. "The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one." — Elbert Hubbard

63. "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." — Francis Chan

64. "Failure doesn't mean you are a failure; it just means you haven't succeeded yet." — Robert H. Schuller

65. "Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street." — Zig Ziglar

66. "Feel the fear and do it anyway." — Susan Jeffers

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67. "There are times where fear protects you. Anxiety is not the same thing as fear." — Your Good Friend

68. "The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist." — Steven Pressfield

69. "Thinking will not overcome fear but action will." — W. Clement Stone

70. "What you fear is what you must conquer." — Lailah Gifty Akita

71. "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." — Saint Thomas

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72. "Don’t let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don’t like them." — Stacy London

73. "Overcoming what frightens you the most strengthens you the most." — Matshona Dhliwayo

74. "Critics are loud, but success is louder." ― Matshona Dhliwayo

matshona dhliwayo quote about fear

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75. "It’s OKAY to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave." ― Mandy Hale

RELATED: How To Know If What You're Feeling Is Real, True Love

Izzy Casey is a writer who covers pop culture and entertainment.