It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourse — Fear

"Fear makes us blind, and we touch each fear with all the avid curiousity of self-interest, trying to make a whole out of a hundred parts, like the blind men with their elephant. We sense the shape. Children grasp it easily, forget it, and relearn it as adults. The shape is there, and most of us come to realize what it is sooner or later: it is the shape of a body under a sheet. All our fears add up to one great fear, all our fears are part of that great fear - an arm, a leg, a finger, an ear. Were afraid of the body under the sheet. Its our body. And the great appeal of horror fiction through the ages is that it serves as a rehearsal for our own deaths."

"Fear is the product of ignorance, and in its initial stages it is not the product of wrong thinking. It is basically instinctual, and is found dominating in the non-mental animal kingdom, as well as in the human kingdom... But in the human, its power is increased potently through the powers of the mind, and through memory of past pain and grievance, and through anticipation of those we foresee, the power of fear is enormously aggravated by the thoughtform we ourselves have built of our own individual fears and phobias. This thoughtform grows in power as we pay attention to it, for "energy follows thought", till we become dominated by it."

"The second fear is the battlefield fear. This is the concrete, clear and present fear in face of a life-threatening situation. To get shot, to get maimed by a grenade or to step on a mine. Every soldier has a different method to manage this fear. I used to lie to muyself that the situation was much better than it looked, that the enemy wasnt that close, the shots were not aimed at me and the sound behind the bush was an animal and not an enemy soldier. My auto-suggestion method worked out fine for me. I also invented mantras to calm myself down. One of them went like: "Today is a good day to die. But not for me. Not today!" Of course, endlessly repeating that you are not dying today, wont increase your chances to survive, but you can fool yourself into believing that it does. It worked and I calmed down. Other soldiers were using other methods, a lot of them were praying, others sang songs and some soldiers overcame their fear through shouting out loud or cursing. I lied to myself or repeated my mantras. Whatever works for you is fine. The third type of fear, however, is the worst. Its not only related to combat, but all of us will experience it one day. Its the fear of imminent death. That you wont be there anymore. In combat, this happens when you are in a really hopeless situation. This fear is the worst feeling I have ever experienced, almost like if somebody pushes you from a cliff and you have inly seconds to live. You feel completely alone. In the end, there is nothing you can do to overcome this fear. While other fears can be managed, you cannot train or prepare for your last moment on earth."

"They are the driven crowds that makes the army of the authoritarian overlord; they are the stuffing of conservatism ... mediocrity is their god. They fear the stranger, they fear the new idea; they are afraid to live, and scared to die."

"When the attendant of the man of the true God rose early and went outside, he saw that an army with horses and war chariots was surrounding the city. At once the attendant said to him: “Alas, my master! What are we to do?” But he said: “Do not be afraid! For there are more who are with us than those who are with them.”"

"I saw the white of fear in America’s eyes. We don’t fear the way we should fear. Our sense of danger should be at the height of our abuse."