Fear

Fear

Fear is an emotion induced by a perceived threat that causes animals to move quickly away from the location of the perceived threat, and sometimes hide. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. In short, fear is the ability to recognize danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it (also known as the fight-or-flight response) but in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) a freeze or paralysis response is possible. Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that there is only a small set of basic or innate emotions and that fear is one of them. This hypothesized set includes such emotions as joy, sadness, and anger. Fear should be distinguished from the emotion anxiety, which typically occurs without any certain or immediate external threat.

Read more about Fear.

Famous quotes containing the word fear:

    never dare entrust them to a safe
    For fear they burn a hole through two-foot steel.
    Robert Graves (1895–1985)

    There’s always a period of curious fear between the first sweet-smelling breeze and the time when the rain comes cracking down.
    Don Delillo (b. 1926)

    Shine out, my sudden angel,
    Break fear with breast and brow,
    I take you now and for always,
    For always is always now.
    Philip Larkin (1922–1986)