I’m seriously remiss on how in the world we have yet to post quotes on Overcoming Fear. Of all the fear quotes, manly quotes, and insane insights we’ve shared, Fearless Men has yet to do this one.
Here’s some hard-hitting quotes on overcoming fear to rip through self-doubt and and thoughts that paralyze men.
Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.
-Francis Chan
I’m not just inspired by Francis Chan’s fear quotes, but by his life, and what he’s given up. Chan is a “famous” Christian speaker, author, and pastor. A few years ago he got pretty sick of the whole “Christian famous” culture–speakers and authors that have grown famous within their sub-sects for exciting messages, books and one-liners. He himself became “Christian famous”, I suppose for the right reasons. But he never felt fully comfortable with that attention and the energy it took.
So he, in an honorable and well-executed way, bailed out. He correctly moved on from the church he was pastoring and moved to Asia for a year to ensure his bearings were correct.
Talk about facing fear. He walked away from being famous in his world just to ensure his heart remained in the right place.
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Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.
-Japanese Proverb
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Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.
-W. Clement Stone
Yeah I know it’s a bit redundant. This fairly pithy statement exists in other forms to inspire people to get off their butts and take action. But who cares? It’s true and it should stick with us. If you want to overcome fear, thinking about it is important (and sometimes not), but putting your foot forward is critical.
Check out Lesson 1 of How To Overcome Fear by clicking here.
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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
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You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
–Johnny Cash
I’ve been listening to Cash lately, and this happens to be the first time I’ve seen this quote. So powerful, thoughtful, and true. Burns me up inside. Can you relate to having wasted energy, time and space on fear?
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I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.
–Nikki Giovanni
It’s true. I think that men can’t live with themselves without having at least tried.
I know someone who is head over heels for a hot girl that’s an outrageous “10”. He’ll probably never get her. But I’m not going to throw too much water on his pursuit–because he will forever kick himself if he as least didn’t give it a shot.
That’s not to say it’s not possible to go overboard…but that OCD business I’ll just leave to another article here on dating mistakes.
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Lift is too short to let fear make big decisions for you.
–Caleb Wojcik
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What about you? Do you have any quotes on overcoming fear from your own life?
[Featured Image Credit http://dribbble.com/briankilledit]
[Fear of Looking Stupid Image Credit http://dribbble.com/fsamuel]
Seth godin has a great one as well. Not sure the exact quote but basically it’s “Whatever you’re afraid of doing is probably what you’re supposed to be doing.”
Somethng along those lines 😀
Hmmm, man that is something I need to chew on.
“Lift is too short to let fear make big decisions for you.” I really like the quotes, but this one takes the cake for me. Life is indeed too short, and allowing fear to get in the way will only short change you.
Wow that is really thoughtful. I wise man thinks about death! It keeps things in perspective.
I’ve always felt an affinity to Johnny Cash. I grew up in a household that listened to old country music and we have the same birthday. But I haven’t seen the biopic because I just don’t see Joaquin Phoenix as the Man in Black.
I own it, and I’ve got to say Joaquin Phoenix nails it as Cash. His vocals, how he was able to imitate him, it really is mind-blowing. Not to say Phoenix isn’t weird…if he wasn’t he wouldn’t have been so awesomely creepy as the Emperor in Gladiator.
Most often, fear is subconcious and not normally acknowledged by the person as the root of their problem.
Nevertheless, here’s a quote I am stitching in needlework:
“when I was young I admired clever people, now that I’m old I admire kind people” ~unk
In needle work? That’s the best!
Love the quotes! Seems that fear is the subject of the month. I’ve been writing about it a ton as well! Great post, guys…
Really? I’ll hop right over to check it out right now!
Very great and inspiring words from fantastic people.
The Steven Pressfield one is really good. It’s really true, man! There will always be fear and being afraid of doing something, that will never ever ever go away. So whatcha gonna do? Curl up and cry like a pansy or do your thing even though you’re scared sh!tless? I vote for option 2!
Yep, there will always be some measure of consideration or hesitation to process before taking the leap!!
Fear of investing is what hold thousands of people back from taking care of their futures.
Funny thing, that: what they fear (being poor) is what happens when their fear of being poor makes them not invest…
It’s interesting you mention this. The last three days I’ve written 6 guest posts. 4 of them have to do exactly with what you say: how fear is paralyzing people to not plan, not act, not save, not invest and not be frugal.
Great quotes Todd, thanks for sharing. One of my all-time fearless quotes is this:
“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
That’s a great addition Peter!!