“There would be nothing to frighten you if you refused to be afraid.”

“I am frightened of nothing.""Nothing?""Nothing.""Are you extremely frightened of nothing?""Absolutely terrified of it.""I have nothing in my pockets. Would you like to see it?""No, I most definitely would not.”

“You aren't scared of limes, are you?" asked Charlie.The creature laughed, scornfully. "I," it said, "am frightened of nothing.""Nothing?""Nothing," it said.Charlie said, "Are you extremely frightened of nothing?""Absolutely terrified of it," admitted the Dragon."You know," said Charlie, "I have nothing in my pockets. Would you like to see it?""No," said the Dragon uncomfortably, "I most definitely would not.”

“Have me," they said, and there was no stopping them. They were frightened, no question, but they were not afraid of me. It was a fear of messing up and having to face themselves again, and facing the world, and the likes of you. There was nothing I could do.They had too many ways, they were too resourceful - and when they did it too well, whatever their chosen method, I was in no position to refuse.”

“You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid…. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer…. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand.Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.”

“Some people refuse to take the next step. You could refuse to take what you wanted most, because you're afraid someday you might lost it.”