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About this quote

What does it mean?
Fear serves as a protective guide when kept in check, but it becomes dangerous if ignored or allowed to dominate.
In plain terms
Keep fear close to stay safe, but do not let it control you.
What can you take from it?
Use fear as a warning signal rather than ignoring it.

Where it applies

  • facing danger
  • making risky decisions
  • assessing threats

Putting it to work

  • remain alert in unsafe environments
  • use anxiety to prepare

Questions to consider

  • How do you recognize when fear is helpful?
  • When have you ignored fear and regretted it?

Another view

Fear can sometimes paralyze rather than protect if overemphasized.

More from Hunter S. Thompson

  1. We are like pygmies lost in a maze of haze. We are not at war, we are having a nervous breakdown,again.

    Permalink to quote #45
  2. The only ones left with any confidence at all are the New Dumb. It is the beginning of the end of our world as we knew it. Doom is the operative ethic.

    Permalink to quote #47
  3. All political power comes from the barrel of either guns, pussy, or opium pipes, and people seem to like it that way.

    Permalink to quote #44

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