--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Much-Afraid, don't ever allow yourself to…" description: "\"Much-Afraid, don't ever allow yourself to begin trying to picture what it will be like. Believe me, when you get to the place which you dread you will ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/hannah-hurnard-26020_agony_much-afraid-don-t-ever-allow-yourself-to_2502617.png" --- # Much-Afraid, don't ever allow yourself to begin trying to… ![“Much-Afraid, don't ever allow yourself to begin trying to picture what it will be like. Believe me, when you get to the place which you dread you will find that they are as different as possible from what you have imagined, just as was the case when you were actually ascending the precipice. I…” quote by Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/hannah-hurnard-26020_agony_much-afraid-don-t-ever-allow-yourself-to_2502617.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/hannah-hurnard-26020_agony_much-afraid-don-t-ever-allow-yourself-to_2502617.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/hannah-hurnard-26020_agony_much-afraid-don-t-ever-allow-yourself-to_2502617.png) > “Much-Afraid, don't ever allow yourself to begin trying to picture what it will be like. Believe me, when you get to the place which you dread you will find that they are as different as possible from what you have imagined, just as was the case when you were actually ascending the precipice. I must warn you that I see your enemies lurking among the trees ahead, and if you ever let Craven Fear begin painting a picture on the screen of your imagination, you will walk with fear and trembling and agony, where no fear is.” [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fear distorts reality; confronting feared situations reveals they differ from imagined horrors, reducing anxiety. **In simple terms:** Facing fear shows it’s not as bad as imagined. Key Takeaway Confront fears to discover they’re less terrifying. Themes fear courage perception growth Mood reflective encouraging Type inspirational advice When to use this quote - public speaking - career change - personal challenges - adventure travel Key Concepts cognitive distortion spiritual journey psychology Questions to Reflect On - What fear have you imagined worse than it turned out? - How can you test your fear assumptions safely? A Different Perspective Overcoming fear may still leave lingering doubt; not all fears disappear instantly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agony/) [Ascending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ascending/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe in me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-in-me/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Craven Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craven-fear-1076080/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Dread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dread/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fear Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-begin-1076079/) [Fear Trembling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-trembling-407141/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Lurking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lurking/) [No fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-fear/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Painting a picture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting-a-picture/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Trembling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trembling/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Walk Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walk-fear-566596/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) ## Related quotes > [You must be prepared for further efforts of mind and body and further sacrifices to great causes, if you are not to fall back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/you-must-be-prepared-for-further-efforts-of-mind-and-body-and-further/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [When you understand the fear then you can begin to move past it. So when I hear the people say it's innate, you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/when-you-understand-the-fear-then-you-can-begin-to-move-past-it-so/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [It is with a kind of fear that I begin to write the history of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/it-is-with-a-kind-of-fear-that-i-begin-to-write-the-history-of-my-life/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [It is you who holds yourself back, due to fear of the unknown, only when you conquer fear will you begin to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-you-who-holds-yourself-back-due-to-fear-of-the-unknown-only/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I could feel something cold stalking my heart. It was fear. They all begin this way, I thought, with pledges of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-merkle-riley/i-could-feel-something-cold-stalking-my-heart-it-was-fear-they-all/) [Judith Merkle Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-merkle-riley/) > [“You become fearful the moment you identify with fear. But once you begin seeing it as an impersonal changing phenomenon, you become free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvan-byeajee/you-become-fearful-the-moment-you-identify-with-fear-but-once-you/) [Yvan Byeajee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvan-byeajee/) > [“Fear is to begin with the end in mind. There is no end. Life is eternal. Live life knowing that the end was your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/fear-is-to-begin-with-the-end-in-mind-there-is-no-end-life-is-eternal/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I take a deep breath and sidestep my fear and begin speaking from the place where beauty and bravery meet--within the chambers of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-take-a-deep-breath-and-sidestep-my-fear-and-begin-speaking-from-the/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [If our religion is based on salvation, our chief emotions will be fear and trembling. If our religion is based on wonder, our chief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/if-our-religion-is-based-on-salvation-our-chief-emotions-will-be-fear/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“You're never confident. You go in fear and trembling every day. It would be awfully nice to think that you know how to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-re-never-confident-you-go-in-fear-and-trembling-every-day-it/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Paul admitted to knowing fear, but it never stopped him. “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling,” he reported…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-oswald-sanders-2/paul-admitted-to-knowing-fear-but-it-never-stopped-him-i-came-to-you/) [J Oswald Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-oswald-sanders-2/) > [A man living out of fear is always trembling inside. He is continuously on the point of going insane, because life is big, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/a-man-living-out-of-fear-is-always-trembling-inside-he-is/) [OSHO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [It is raining bombs on the house of the Lord. I go in fear and trembling lest one of these terrible bombers gets into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/it-is-raining-bombs-on-the-house-of-the-lord-i-go-in-fear-and/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [If you will take it into your mind to be sincere in throwing away your life for your master, you will not have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torii-mototada/if-you-will-take-it-into-your-mind-to-be-sincere-in-throwing-away/) [Torii Mototada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torii-mototada/) > [With fear and trembling we must rely upon God for guidance in the inner depths. This is the sole way to walk according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/with-fear-and-trembling-we-must-rely-upon-god-for-guidance-in-the/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) ## More by Hannah Hurnard > [Your reactions to your enemy can hurt you more than your enemy can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/your-reactions-to-your-enemy-can-hurt-you-more-than-your-enemy-can/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [As Christians we know, in theory at least, that in the life of a child of God there are no second causes, that even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/as-christians-we-know-in-theory-at-least-that-in-the-life-of-a-child/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [... Every circumstance in life, no matter how crooked and distorted and ugly it appears to be, if it is reacted to in love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/every-circumstance-in-life-no-matter-how-crooked-and-distorted-and/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [“There is absolutely no experience, however terrible, or heartbreaking, or unjust, or cruel, or evil, which you can meet in the course of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/there-is-absolutely-no-experience-however-terrible-or-heartbreaking/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Those who love most, see most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/those-who-love-most-see-most/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [He shines upon me and makes me to rejoice, and has atoned for me all that was taken from me and done against me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/he-shines-upon-me-and-makes-me-to-rejoice-and-has-atoned-for-me-all/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [“Up from behind a sand dune close beside her rose the form of her enemy Bitterness. He did not come any nearer, having learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/up-from-behind-a-sand-dune-close-beside-her-rose-the-form-of-her/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Prayer need not be a burdensome duty. It is meant to be a joyful and creative privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/prayer-need-not-be-a-burdensome-duty-it-is-meant-to-be-a-joyful-and/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [I have tried to show as clearly as possible that the very characteristics and weaknesses of temperament with which we were born...can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/i-have-tried-to-show-as-clearly-as-possible-that-the-very/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [The heart knoweth its own sorrow and there are times when, like David, it is comforting to think that our tears are put in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/the-heart-knoweth-its-own-sorrow-and-there-are-times-when-like-david/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Love opens the eyes of our understanding and enables us to see more of the truth than can those who are blinded by self-love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/love-opens-the-eyes-of-our-understanding-and-enables-us-to-see-more/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [God has made us for Himself, and our hearts can never know rest and perfect satisfaction until they find it in Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/god-has-made-us-for-himself-and-our-hearts-can-never-know-rest-and/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [It is better to go stumbling, and weeping, and crawling like a worm along the way of love, than to give up and choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/it-is-better-to-go-stumbling-and-weeping-and-crawling-like-a-worm/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Behold me, here I am; thy little handmaiden Acceptance-with-Joy and all that is in my heart is thine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/behold-me-here-i-am-thy-little-handmaiden-acceptance-with-joy-and-all/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [“You may think that Much-Afraid was altogether too much given to shedding tears, but remember that she had Sorrow for a companion and teacher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/you-may-think-that-much-afraid-was-altogether-too-much-given-to/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) [Explore all 22 Hannah Hurnard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) ## More Agony quotes > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [“aaron would not come out aaron entered into agony.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/aaron-would-not-come-out-aaron-entered-into-agony/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [As we look upon that agony and those tearful prayers, let us not only look with thankfulness; but let that kneeling Saviour teach us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/as-we-look-upon-that-agony-and-those-tearful-prayers-let-us-not-only/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [Love masters agony; the soul that seemed Forsaken feels her present God again And in her Father's arms Contented dies away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keble/love-masters-agony-the-soul-that-seemed-forsaken-feels-her-present/) [John Keble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keble/) > [I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/i-have-seen-war-i-have-seen-war-on-land-and-sea-i-have-seen-blood/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [“Anger was a reliable defense, but one that allowed no chance of final victory. Anger was a medicine but never a cure, briefly numbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/anger-was-a-reliable-defense-but-one-that-allowed-no-chance-of-final/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [The cure is in the house, not brought by other hands from distant places, but by its own, in agony and blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-cure-is-in-the-house-not-brought-by-other-hands-from-distant/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The young man shivered. He rolled the stock themes of fantasy over in his mind: cars and stockbrokers and commuters, housewives and police, agony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-young-man-shivered-he-rolled-the-stock-themes-of-fantasy-over-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Being ill like this combines shock - this time I will die - with a pain and agony that are unfamiliar, that wrench me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-brodkey/being-ill-like-this-combines-shock-this-time-i-will-die-with-a-pain/) [Harold Brodkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-brodkey/) > [One often learns more from ten days of agony than ten years of contentment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merle-shain/one-often-learns-more-from-ten-days-of-agony-than-ten-years-of/) [Merle Shain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merle-shain/) > [There’s been a problem, a problem eating away at me from the inside out. I’ve become weak, I’ve shown human compassion, and it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kane/there-s-been-a-problem-a-problem-eating-away-at-me-from-the-inside/) [Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kane/) > [Pay special attention to their agony so I might take some pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/pay-special-attention-to-their-agony-so-i-might-take-some-pleasure/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [Die, enemies of Ra!" Sekhemet yelled. "Perish in agony!" "She's almost as annoying as you," I told Horus. "Impossible," Horus said. "No one bests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/die-enemies-of-ra-sekhemet-yelled-perish-in-agony-she-s-almost-as/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) [Browse all 813 Agony quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agony/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Much-Afraid, don't ever allow yourself to begin trying to picture what it will be like. Believe me, when you get to the place which you dread you will find that they are as different as possible from what you have imagined, just as was the case when you were actually ascending the precipice. 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