--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Curiosity, easily frightened, takes…" description: "\"Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in puzzles, murder mysteries, and spectator sports.\" — Mason Cooley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/mason-cooley-92_curiosity_curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge_2358406.png" --- # Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in puzzles… ![“Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in puzzles, murder mysteries, and spectator sports.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/mason-cooley-92_curiosity_curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge_2358406.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/mason-cooley-92_curiosity_curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge_2358406.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/mason-cooley-92_curiosity_curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge_2358406.png) > “Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in puzzles, murder mysteries, and spectator sports.” [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fear drives curiosity toward puzzles, mysteries, and spectator sports as safe outlets. **In simple terms:** Fear pushes us to safe, mysterious activities. Key Takeaway Channel fear into constructive curiosity. Themes fear curiosity entertainment escape Mood introspective playful analytical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - hobbies - learning - team sports - reading - problem solving Key Concepts psychology risk management Questions to Reflect On - What fears fuel your hobbies? - How can you face fears directly? A Different Perspective Overreliance on escapism may avoid confronting real fears. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Murder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murder/) [Murder mysteries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murder-mysteries/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Puzzles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/puzzles/) [Refuge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuge/) [Sports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sports/) ## Related quotes > [I'm easily frightened and am somewhat of a squeamish person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-robinson/i-m-easily-frightened-and-am-somewhat-of-a-squeamish-person/) [Phoebe Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-robinson/) > [Austrian soldiers are like horses: brave but easily frightened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/austrian-soldiers-are-like-horses-brave-but-easily-frightened/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [I'm always easily frightened and I hate being scared. I've never been able to go on the haunted house rides at carnivals of anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caity-lotz/i-m-always-easily-frightened-and-i-hate-being-scared-i-ve-never-been/) [Caity Lotz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caity-lotz/) > [Literary characters, like my grandmother's apparitions, are fragile beings, easily frightened; they must be treated with care so they will feel comfortable in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/literary-characters-like-my-grandmother-s-apparitions-are-fragile/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [If one hour's work is enough to govern France, four minutes is all that is needed for Italy. There is no nation more easily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madame-de-stael/if-one-hour-s-work-is-enough-to-govern-france-four-minutes-is-all/) [Madame de Stael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madame-de-stael/) > [The eye is easily frightened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-eye-is-easily-frightened/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Pornography and cooking shows have created two new spectator sports.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/pornography-and-cooking-shows-have-created-two-new-spectator-sports/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“Personally I like the English style better. It is not quite so brittle, and the people as a rule, just wear clothes and drink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/personally-i-like-the-english-style-better-it-is-not-quite-so-brittle/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [... in the nineteen-thirties ... the most casual reader of murder mysteries could infallibly detect the villain, as soon as there entered a character…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/in-the-nineteen-thirties-the-most-casual-reader-of-murder-mysteries/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [“You'd have thought that after twenty years editing murder mysteries I'd have noticed when I found myself in the middle of one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/you-d-have-thought-that-after-twenty-years-editing-murder-mysteries-i/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [I love adult thrillers and murder mysteries and everything like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-condor/i-love-adult-thrillers-and-murder-mysteries-and-everything-like-that/) [Lana Condor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-condor/) > [Murder mysteries are puzzles that are fun to resolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-reichs/murder-mysteries-are-puzzles-that-are-fun-to-resolve/) [Kathy Reichs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-reichs/) > [“It had always been a part of his job which he found difficult, the total lack of privacy for the victim. Murder stripped away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/it-had-always-been-a-part-of-his-job-which-he-found-difficult-the/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [Paperbacks weren't considered real books in the book trade. Up till then it was just murder mysteries, potboilers, 25-cent pocket books sold in newsstands.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/paperbacks-weren-t-considered-real-books-in-the-book-trade-up-till/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) > [You can approach 'The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death' in a variety or combination of ways: as a startlingly eccentric hobby; as a series…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/you-can-approach-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death-in-a/) [Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/) ## More by Mason Cooley > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Money comes to life as it is spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/money-comes-to-life-as-it-is-spent/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/literary-tradition-is-full-of-lies-about-poverty-the-jolly-beggar-the/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Experience teaches us, but we scarcely know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/experience-teaches-us-but-we-scarcely-know-what/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The body has a mind of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-body-has-a-mind-of-its-own/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [In retirement, I look for days off from my days off. Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/in-retirement-i-look-for-days-off-from-my-days-off-mason-cooley/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-puritan-sours-his-pleasures-by-disguising-them-as-duties/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/vacations-prove-that-a-life-of-pleasure-is-overrated/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/outside-literature-high-flown-sentiments-are-merely-exasperating/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Explore all 1,401 Mason Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More Curiosity quotes > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [“Metal makes everything magical. Just ask a unicorn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sybrina-durant/metal-makes-everything-magical-just-ask-a-unicorn/) [Sybrina Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sybrina-durant/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The four Cs of making dreams come true: Curiosity, Courage, Consistency, Confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/the-four-cs-of-making-dreams-come-true-curiosity-courage-consistency/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Curiosity Can Kill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anison/curiosity-can-kill/) [Anison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anison/) > [“So curious you must be. Like little calves poking their heads through the fence with big eyes and a headful of curiosity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carew-papritz/so-curious-you-must-be-like-little-calves-poking-their-heads-through/) [Carew Papritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carew-papritz/) > [ “\[T\]he question "What is everything?" has no meaning, even though it seems to be profound. \[...\] The point is, perhaps, that I am not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/t-he-question-what-is-everything-has-no-meaning-even-though-it-seems/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Be curious not judge mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/be-curious-not-judge-mental/) Unknow > [There is nothing so carking as the pangs of unsatisfied curiosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/there-is-nothing-so-carking-as-the-pangs-of-unsatisfied-curiosity/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Curiosity is the essence of human existence. 'Who are we? Where are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?'... I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/curiosity-is-the-essence-of-human-existence-who-are-we-where-are-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes curiosity is a poison, not only for those who drink it but for everyone around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-norman-lippert/sometimes-curiosity-is-a-poison-not-only-for-those-who-drink-it-but/) [G. Norman Lippert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-norman-lippert/) > [As long as your curiosity is greater than your fear, you will move forward!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/as-long-as-your-curiosity-is-greater-than-your-fear-you-will-move/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it sure has earned a lot of people graduate degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-irving/curiosity-may-have-killed-the-cat-but-it-sure-has-earned-a-lot-of/) Robyn Irving [Browse all 2,721 Curiosity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in puzzles, murder mysteries, and spectator sports.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mason Cooley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge-in-puzzles-murder-mysteries/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Curiosity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge-in-puzzles-murder-mysteries/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/mason-cooley-92_curiosity_curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge_2358406.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/mason-cooley-92_curiosity_curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge_2358406.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/mason-cooley-92_curiosity_curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge_2358406.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in puzzles, murder mysteries, and spectator sports.” — Mason Cooley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mason Cooley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge-in-puzzles-murder-mysteries/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/curiosity-easily-frightened-takes-refuge-in-puzzles-murder-mysteries/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```