I feel like that quote does have accuracy, for example many ppl might be afraid to try Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Boxing, MMA, and Wrestling, but if you train it there is so much knowledge with in it not only mentally but muscle memory as well

Yes, maybe fear of the unknown, but also the fear of the unfamiliar, fear of attention or respect given to others instead of ourselves, fear of the worst that can happen.

I suppose the remedy to fear is exposure, becoming more familiar with people and places, learning what is to respected and admired about others, even if they are different or have opposing views to ours. Learning how use reason, science, wisdom, compassion, friendliness, imagination and vision toward solving our problems and smoothing tension between people.

If you reflect back on your life you will probably come to realize that more than 90% plus of the things that you were afraid of never actually happened. Most fear is manufactured in the imagination where it becomes bigger than the existential reality if we allow it to happen. This is not to deny that there are real life situations where fear may come into play.

I think fear of the unknown is the greatest human fear and although Russell didn’t implicitly state that in his quote which I posted this morning, I think it was inferred, or at least it’s what I think was meant to be read into it. Fear of the unknown is why people are so attracted to religion, because religion purports to supply answers to certain questions that puzzle and make us fearful such as why we are here, how did we get here, and where do we go after we die. A supernatural answer fills in these blanks and answers these fears …a supernatural creator who is all powerful and who will look after us for eternity after we die if we just keep following the rules laid down and being kept in perpetual fear of falling short and being punished by spending eternity in a different place entirely called hell. It’s about control..controlling our minds and keeping us fearful, worse even that fear of the unknown is fear of hell and eternal damnation, so religion far from relieving fear actually makes us more fearful.

How can we address and eliminate our fears? I think by meeting them head on and rationally and analytically dealing with each one using logic and common sense, remembering that everything does have a logical cause and answer even if it eludes our reasoning at the present time. If we can achieve this in our own minds then, like Bertrand Russell, I believe we can begin to conquer our fear and attain wisdom.

We can either recognize our fears and adjust our lives...or ignore them.

Ignoring them has good and bad consequences.

For example; I love bicycling. But i have a fear of falling and hurting myself.

I fell recently had a hard fall biking....and had to be hospitalized...and I'm still suffering from the pain weeks later.

Should I ignore the fear and risk the fall - or pay attention to it and avoid biking?

I think it depends on how old you want to live - how long you want to stay alive,

I remember an old rock- n- roll comment "better to burn out then to fade away"...

I'm 77...and now I'm not sure.