It is not the thing that we fear the most that crushes us but that which we have failed to fear.

However powerful or disturbing something may appear to be, it is our reaction to it that determines its effects.

What is important is not what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us.

We don’t need to eliminate all our reactions to people and problems. Reactions can be useful. They help us identify what we like and what feels good. They help us identify problems in and around us. But most of us react too much. And much of what we react to is nonsense. It isn’t all that important, and it doesn’t merit the time and attention we’re giving it. Some of what we react to is other people’s reactions to us.

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance.

Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself

We Have Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

The measure of who we are is how we react to something that doesn’t go our way,

We have nothing to fear but fear itself

Few situations — no matter how greatly they appear to demand it — can be bettered by us going berserk. Why do we do it, then? We react because we’re anxious and afraid of what has happened, what might happen, and what is happening. Many of us react as though everything is a crisis because we have lived with so many crises for so long that crisis reaction has become a habit. We react because we think things shouldn’t be happening the way they are. We react because we don’t feel good about ourselves. We react because most people react. We react because we think we have to react. We don’t have to. We don’t have to be so afraid of people. They are just people like us. We don’t have to forfeit our peace. It doesn’t help. We have the same facts and resources available to us when we’re peaceful that are available to us when we’re frantic and chaotic. Actually we have more resources available because our minds and emotions are free to perform at peak level.

In time we hate that which we often fear.

When we're healthy we respond to the presence of the hateful with fear and nausea.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself