KINDS OF FEARS
Categories:
Chapter I - The Twin-Verses
Books:
Mastery of Self
Fear of Self: timidity, lack of confidence, possible unaccountable
states
Fear for Self: weakness, anticipated failure, imagined disgrace
Fear of Things: animals, inanimate objects, physical forces
Fear of Others: human beings, apparitions, devils, Deity
Fear for Others: children, parents, husband, wife, relatives,
friends, strangers
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Fear of Events: present, future, imaginary, possible, probable,
contingent
Fear of the Future: in life; beyond the present life
Instinct and reason strive to place us in right relations with all
these causes The existence in us of fear shows that we already
are, either in mind or in fact, in wrong relations therewith
The mastery of fear involves the discovery of right relations,
mental or concrete, and the placing of self in those right
conditions which are determined and provided for by the ground-
plan of our nature
And the first thing thus provided for is health All treatment for
the conquest of our universal enemy must begin with development of
individual tone: tone of body, tone of mind, tone of the deeper
self
I am not writing for those who are constitutionally fearless, but
I have in mind all who do yield to the feeling of fear Our ideal,
however, is not a mere animal courage, not the courage of
insensibility It is rather the courage of the whole man or woman
making for the WHITE LIFE If you are only partially yourself, you
cannot possess the highest courage Such courage may be yours,
infallibly, if you will but resolve for the goal and go on into
the great ideals of the harmonic personality This you can do--
anyone can do And to come thereto is the greatest thing in the
world
You are invited, then, to begin by substituting in your thought
the idea of self-preserving reason for any kind of fear (even the
so-called normal) as your perpetual guard and guide Make it a
profound conviction of your deepest self that no real harm can
come to that self because you have entered the highway of the
WHITE LIFE--THE LIFE of PURITY, REASON, HONOR, GOOD-WILL, AND
CONFIDENT ASSURANCE Swing your life into the unfolding and
infolding of the Infinite White Life of Worlds Courage will
become to you the very breath of your lungs
I send you this sure message: Fear is dead
In all the pure, by reason's wisdom led,
Who wear white honor and evince good-will,
And trust the self to Love's unfailing skill
I send you this sure message: Courage lives
When man to Courage all assurance gives