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I always loved Frank Herbert's quote about fear in Dune: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
by giu 6y ago
I always loved Frank Herbert's quote about fear in Dune:
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
In fact, this quote resonates with me so much that I've been using it as my desktop background for the past 8 years.
It also has been my experience with fears in the past years, especially with those fears that come with decisions that you have to make for yourself: Once you face those fears and permit them to pass over you (e.g. by being mindful about the emotions), you give yourself the possibility to learn and grow, and a lot of times you will find yourself in situations which you could not have imagined in the first place.
- jmercouris 6y agoIf that quote resonates with you, then you've never felt true fear.
- giu 6y agoCould you explain what you mean? English is not my native language, so there's a possibility for me to learn how to rephrase it; maybe resonates with me is not the right word :) I'd appreciate it!
- mrjay42 6y agoIf I may I think I know/feel what he meant: If you've experienced massive fear to the point of panicking, then you'll know that this kind of quotes were written by people who've never faced fear. It's possible to face it, it's possible to address the issues...But fear/panic will always be there, you can learn to live with it, but it's not a "monster you can kill". So when it's said "Only I will remain": well...the thing is fear/panic is part of you, again you can control it sometimes/most of the time, but it will probably never "go away" or "be destroyed". That's the whole point: fear comes to you whether you want it or not. But I am saying that because I am "in the middle of it"...maybe people end up being able to remove completely their fears at some point...
- me_me_me 6y agoI don't think you are right. I have been in position where I was at the brink of panic. That tingling sensation that slowly build up to feeling of total doom. That quote was always an ancor point for me. Not fear but panic is a killer. A total emotional overload is something that will kill you when in dangerous position. I agree fear is part of you and can be useful when handled well. Panic is fully negative state when fear takes over and you are running on pure emotion. And that's what I always considered this quote to be referring to. Uncontrolled fear will paralyses your decision making making your life worse.
- jcbrand 6y ago> But fear/panic will always be there, you can learn to live with it, but it's not a "monster you can kill". This is not true. Fear, like all emotions comes and goes. This is one of the first things you learn when you have a consistent meditation practice. By clinging to an emotion, feeding it with conscious energy and identifying with it, you prolong the suffering it causes. The quicker you disidentify with it, the quicker it passes, just like every other emotion. It may come back again, but that's not the same as "always be there" and the better you get with not associating and identifying with it, the less intense it becomes over time.
- phatfish 6y agoI don't remember the context in Dune. But I read it to be about irrational fear of something that is not life threatening. Obviously "overcoming your fear" by putting your life in danger in a situation where you are almost certain to be killed or injured is probably not an idea most people can seriously claim to live by.
- bartvk 6y agoThat's a bit of a shallow dismissal (see HN guidelines). You'd do everyone a favor if you'd explain what your experiences were.
- qznc 6y agoYou could understand it as growing up. Only in your twens, your prefrontal cortex fully develops and can overrule the flight response of the amygdala. Most teens are thus dominated by their emotions like fear (or anger).
- swyx 6y agolmao leave it to HN to gatekeep fear
- meiraleal 6y agoI agree with you. Fear of leaving your bed because of anxiety is not the same as fear of having a gun pointed to you. You can be happy to be able to overcome your small fears, but get out of your bed is not really bravery.
- _pmf_ 6y agoDune has a lot of good stuff: “Show me a completely smooth operation and I'll show you someone who's covering mistakes. Real boats rock.”
- eps 6y agoYes, I too watched the new Dune trailer yesterday ;)