" I must say a word about fear. it is life only true opponent. only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary. It has no decency, respects no laws or convention, shows no mercy. it goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. it begins in ur mind,always. One moment ypu are feeling calm, self possessed,happy. Then fear, disguised in the mild mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy. Doubt meets disbelief and disbelief tries to push it out. But disbelief is a poorly armed foot soldier. Doubt does away with it with little trouble. You become anxious. Reason comes to do battle for you. You are reassured. But to your amazement , despite superior tactics and a number of undeniable victories, reason is laid low. You feel yourself weakening, wavering.Your anxiety becomes dread. Fear then turns to your body, which is already aware that terribly wrong is going on. Every part of you in the manner most suited to it falls apart. You dismiss all your allies : hope and trust. There you have defeated yourself. Fear, which is an impression, has triumphed over you. It seeks to rot everything, even the words with which to speak it. So you must figt hard to express it. Because if your fear becomes wordless darkness that you avoid, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you...."
Life of Pi - Yann Martel