--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He shook his head. \"Everyone fears me…" description: "\"“He shook his head. \"Everyone fears me, except you, Latro. When a man is respected, no one wants to plant a dagger in his back. When he is feared, ever..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5f/gene-wolfe-2530_feared_he-shook-his-head-everyone-fears-me-exce_2973325.jpg" --- # He shook his head. "Everyone fears me, except you, Latro… ![“He shook his head. "Everyone fears me, except you, Latro. When a man is respected, no one wants to plant a dagger in his back. When he is feared, everyone thinks upon it, and tests the point.” quote by Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5f/gene-wolfe-2530_feared_he-shook-his-head-everyone-fears-me-exce_2973325.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5f/gene-wolfe-2530_feared_he-shook-his-head-everyone-fears-me-exce_2973325.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5f/gene-wolfe-2530_feared_he-shook-his-head-everyone-fears-me-exce_2973325.jpg) > ““He shook his head. "Everyone fears me, except you, Latro. When a man is respected, no one wants to plant a dagger in his back. When he is feared, everyone thinks upon it, and tests the point.”” [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Respect and fear shape how people treat others; fear can lead to testing limits, while respect prevents betrayal. **In simple terms:** Respect prevents betrayal; fear invites testing. Key Takeaway Earn respect, avoid unnecessary fear. Themes power trust social dynamics Mood cautious analytical Type psychological leadership When to use this quote - leadership roles - team environments - personal relationships Key Concepts respect fear testing boundaries Questions to Reflect On - How to balance respect and fear in leadership? - When is fear a useful motivator? A Different Perspective Fear can be manipulated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fears/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [The first light of day today revealed what we had feared. The devastation is greater than our worst fears. It's just totally overwhelming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-blanco/the-first-light-of-day-today-revealed-what-we-had-feared-the/) [Kathleen Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-blanco/) > [What each man feared would happen to himself, did not trouble him when he saw that it would ruin another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil/what-each-man-feared-would-happen-to-himself-did-not-trouble-him-when/) [Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil/) > [The man who fears nothing is as powerful as he who is feared by everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/the-man-who-fears-nothing-is-as-powerful-as-he-who-is-feared-by/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [“What all men fear is indeed to be feared;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/what-all-men-fear-is-indeed-to-be-feared/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [Live with your lips pressed against your fears, kissing your fears, neither pulling back nor aggressively violating them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deida/live-with-your-lips-pressed-against-your-fears-kissing-your-fears/) [David Deida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deida/) > [Nothing is to be feared, only to be understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-swarbrick/nothing-is-to-be-feared-only-to-be-understood/) Kenneth Swarbrick > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Machiavelli taught me it was better to be feared than loved. 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My teenage boys got a kick out of it: 'Dad,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/some-article-called-me-the-most-feared-man-in-silicon-valley-good/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More by Gene Wolfe > [Some writers say they cannot write in front of a window; many say they cannot function without almost perfect quiet. A writer with only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/some-writers-say-they-cannot-write-in-front-of-a-window-many-say-they/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“Sometimes driven aground by the photon storms, by the swirling of the galaxies, clockwise and counterclockwise, ticking with light down the dark sea-corridors lined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/sometimes-driven-aground-by-the-photon-storms-by-the-swirling-of-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“There are beings—and artifacts—against which we batter our intelligence raw, and in the end make peace with reality only by saying, “It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/there-are-beings-and-artifacts-against-which-we-batter-our/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Science has so accustomed us to devising and accepting theories to account for the facts we observe, however fantastic, that our minds must begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/science-has-so-accustomed-us-to-devising-and-accepting-theories-to/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“The experienced feel love or desire, or both. 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You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/you-never-learn-how-to-write-a-novel-you-just-learn-how-to-write-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [There is no magic. There is only knowledge, more or less hidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/there-is-no-magic-there-is-only-knowledge-more-or-less-hidden/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“...the progress of science depends much less upon either theoretical considerations or systematic investigation than is commonly believed, but rather on the transmittal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/the-progress-of-science-depends-much-less-upon-either-theoretical/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“Whatever we may say, all of us suffer from disturbed sleep at times. 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Reden > [“For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/for-it-is-not-death-or-pain-that-is-to-be-feared-but-the-fear-of-pain/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Machiavelli taught me it was better to be feared than loved. Because if you are loved they sense you might be weak. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-king/machiavelli-taught-me-it-was-better-to-be-feared-than-loved-because/) [Don King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-king/) > [“What all men fear is indeed to be feared;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/what-all-men-fear-is-indeed-to-be-feared/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Nothing is to be feared, only to be understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-swarbrick/nothing-is-to-be-feared-only-to-be-understood/) Kenneth Swarbrick > [“Here was a thing he feared: that this strange feeling in his heart-this palpably growing emptiness- would eventually kill him”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/here-was-a-thing-he-feared-that-this-strange-feeling-in-his-heart/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [There is always a certain hour of the day and of the night when a man’s courage is at its lowest ebb, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/there-is-always-a-certain-hour-of-the-day-and-of-the-night-when-a-man/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [You are not wise enough to fear me as I should be feared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/you-are-not-wise-enough-to-fear-me-as-i-should-be-feared/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [You are an educated man. You know there are no such things as demons." Bast smiled a terrible smile. "There is only my kind."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/you-are-an-educated-man-you-know-there-are-no-such-things-as-demons/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) Browse all 411 Feared quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He shook his head. \"Everyone fears me, except you, Latro. When a man is respected, no one wants to plant a dagger in his back. 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