Definitions HQ

Fear (n.) and ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠desire shrink us into mere bodies, entrails and genitals, so that we flatter the very people we dread.

Fear (n.) misplaced ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠is the deer fleeing the feathers straight into the nets: we flee death and pain, and run carelessly into deceit and shameful desires.

Fear (n.) inflates ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠everything: at sea it imagines swallowing the whole ocean when three pints would do; in an earthquake, the whole town falling when one small stone would do.

Fear (n.) attaches ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to what a ruler can do, not to him: no one fears Caesar but death, exile and confiscation, and no one loves him, only his posts — which is why we worship such men as gods.

Fear (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠nothing to grip once you treat property and children as children treat broken pottery in a game: you play the moves and do not care for the pieces.