Horror is always aware of its cause; terror never is. That is precisely what makes terror terrifying.
Interpretation
Horror stems from understanding its source, while terror is rooted in the unknown, which amplifies its fear.
This quote underscores the distinction between horror and terror, suggesting that horror is fear grounded in an identifiable cause, whereas terror emerges from uncertainty and the inability to comprehend its source. The true potency of terror lies in its unpredictability, which can evoke a more profound and paralyzing fear than what horror can muster through its relatability.
In practice
In a discussion about the psychological impact of horror films, this quote can highlight how different types of fear affect audiences.
The more I think about myself, the more I'm persuaded that, as a person, I really don't exist. That is one of the reasons why I can't believe in any orthodox religion: I cannot believe in my own soul. No, I am a chemical compound, conditioned by environment and education. My "character" is simply a repertoire of acquired tricks, my conversation a repertoire of adaptations and echoes, my "feelings" are dictated by purely physical, external stimuli.
A minority is only thought of as a minority when it constitutes some kind of threat to the majority, real or imaginary. And no threat is ever quite imaginary.
What’s so phony nowadays is all this familiarity. Pretending there isn’t any difference between people —well, like you were saying about minorities, this morning. If you and I are no different, what do we have to give each other? How can we ever be friends?
I'm like a book you have to read. A book can't read itself to you. It doesn't even know what it's about. I don't know what I'm about.
The paternalist is a sentimentalist at heart, and the sentimentalist is always potentially cruel.
I am a camera, with its shutter open. Someday, all of this will be developed, printed, fixed.
Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.
Sometimes the biggest disasters aren't noticed at all – no one's around to write horror stories.
While some men see ordinary happenings, others see divine light and guidance.
Man is free; yet we must not suppose that he is at liberty to do everything he pleases, for he becomes a slave the moment he allows his actions to be ruled by passion.
Reality is very, very contradictory, and so I try to write just perfecting what I see, what I read, what I feel, in a feel-thinking way. Not only giving ideas, or receiving ideas, or trying to explain something, but mainly feel-thinking, a feel-thinking language able to tie the heart and the mind, which have been divorced.
If a man meets with injustice, it is not required that he shall not be roused to meet it; but if he is angry after he has had time to think upon it, that is sinful. The flame is not wrong, but the coals are.
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