QuoteProject
I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.
Erica Jong
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Facing fears is essential for personal growth and transformation.

This quote by Erica Jong emphasizes the importance of confronting our fears head-on. It suggests that fear can often be a signal pointing towards the challenges we must face to grow and become stronger individuals. By embracing the uncomfortable and the intimidating, we open ourselves up to new experiences, learning opportunities, and ultimately a more fulfilling life.

Themes

FearCourageGrowthChallengesLife

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about overcoming obstacles.

More from Erica Jong

My reaction to porno films is as follows: After the first ten minutes, I want to go home and screw. After the first twenty minutes, I never want to screw again as long as I live.
Erica JongRead
I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.
Erica JongRead
No one ever found wisdom without also being a fool. Writers, alas, have to be fools in public, while the rest of the human race can cover its tracks.
Erica JongRead
My generation was not only maligned in book reviews and attacked in graduate school but we lived to see our adored and adorable daughters wonder why feminism had become a dirty word.
Erica JongRead
Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.
Erica JongRead
I believe that women should live for love, for motherhood and for intellect, and I believe we shouldn't have to choose. And I believe that's always been difficult for women, to express themselves intellectually, maternally, and passionately.
Erica JongRead

Similar quotes

I'm a very brave person. I can go to North Vietnam, I can challenge my government, but I can't challenge the man I'm with if means I'm going to end up alone.
Jane FondaRead
I'm always fearful. … Fear generates in you a huge energy. You can use it. When I feel that mounting fear, I think, 'Oh, yes, there it is!' It's like petrol.
Judi DenchRead
I became famous for the fact that I would break many, many limits. People said, 'He does all these crazy things.' But oddly it was a crazy thing only because scientists and climbers said, 'Everest and the 8,000-meter peaks without oxygen - impossible. Messner is becoming sick in his head.'
Reinhold MessnerRead
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow. Better even to die free than to live slaves.
Frederick DouglassRead
With the inevitability of a tongue returning to probe a painful tooth, we come back and back and back again to our fears, sitting to talk them over with the eagerness of a hungry man before a full and steaming plate.
Clive BarkerRead
It is very discouraging to be in a team with white athletes. On the track you are Tommie Smith, the fastest man in the world, but once you are in the dressing rooms you are nothing more than a dirty Negro.
Tommie SmithRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.