“Less base the fear of death than fear of life.”

— Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1742–1745), Night V

About Edward Young

1683 – 1765

English poet, author of "Night Thoughts".

“Time wasted is existence, used is life.”

“Amid my list of blessings infinite, stands this the foremost, 'That my heart has bled.'”

“Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.”

“For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.”

“There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger.”

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”

“No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.”

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.”