A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Strategists did not believe in predestination and did not encourage people to consult fortune-telling books and hope for the best. They taught people to examine their own situations and their own actions, and to take conscious responsibility for their own behavior and its consequences. I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.