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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



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