Rocks and Sticks and Knives and Pain

What is fear? The dictionary says that fear is a distressed emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the treat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. Fear can also be defined as reverential awe, specifically awe toward God. The second meaning, at least in my mind, is the more insightful definition in that it portrays some of the emotion felt in fear. That emotion is respect. I can think of no instance when something is feared and not respected because if something does not have respect then it is not worthy of fear. This separates fear from the act being afraid. If one is afraid of something one does not necessarily respect it. Fear, because of the respect it has, can therefore become terror. Terror is simply an overpowering feeling of fear, although terror can not be described as simple. An emotion so powerful that it can completely nullify the senses or can inspire greatness. Fear and terror are forces to be reckoned with and there are substances and instances which are worthy of fear. There is nothing wrong in fearing something, some things should be feared. There is, however, something wrong with being afraid of fear, or more namely, as fear is worthy of respect, of fearing fear. If one fears fear then one can lose their freedom. Fear should never control our actions, it should inspire within us courage. In the words of Victor Hugo:

The man on the run, let us repeat, is a man inspired. There is starlight and lightning in the mysterious glow of flight, and the straining for liberty is no less remarkable than the soaring of the spirit to the sublime. To ask, as we do of Corneille, 'when did he know that he was dying?'

Hugo talks of a man in fear of being caught, but the man is not controlled, he is instead inspired to acts of daring, to acts of courage, to acts of greatness; the man is free in his flight for freedom.