--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fear of the future is worse than one's…" description: "\"Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune.\" — Quintilian" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/quintilian-7306_fear_fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-p_1363032.jpg" --- # Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune. ![“Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune.” quote by Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/quintilian-7306_fear_fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-p_1363032.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/quintilian-7306_fear_fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-p_1363032.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/quintilian-7306_fear_fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-p_1363032.jpg) > “Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune.” [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Worrying about the future is more harmful than current misfortunes, urging focus on present actions. **In simple terms:** Future anxiety outweighs present problems. Key Takeaway Focus on present actions. Themes anxiety future present focus Mood thoughtful pragmatic Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - decision making - career planning - mental health Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance present focus with future planning? - What present actions reduce future anxiety? A Different Perspective May ignore legitimate future risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fear of the future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-of-the-future/) [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“For those overwhelmed by fear of the future. Live in the moment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynette-noni/for-those-overwhelmed-by-fear-of-the-future-live-in-the-moment/) [Lynette Noni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynette-noni/) > [Never let the Sadness of the Past and the Fear of the Future ruin the Happiness of the Present...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kushandwizdom/never-let-the-sadness-of-the-past-and-the-fear-of-the-future-ruin-the/) [Kushandwizdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kushandwizdom/) > [“For how many people does fear of the future take away the present as well?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/for-how-many-people-does-fear-of-the-future-take-away-the-present-as/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [Only when all conceptions of space and time, life and death, are exploded, when the grip of the past and fear of the future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-villoldo/only-when-all-conceptions-of-space-and-time-life-and-death-are/) [Alberto Villoldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-villoldo/) > [Have no fear of the future. Let us go forward into its mysteries, tear away the veils which hide it from our eyes, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/have-no-fear-of-the-future-let-us-go-forward-into-its-mysteries-tear/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [It is too early to feel fear of the future when one is under 30, and too late after that. What I mean is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-is-too-early-to-feel-fear-of-the-future-when-one-is-under-30-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I could worry about pretty much anything you put in front of me, so I'm not actually sort of anti-technology. So it doesn't sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-could-worry-about-pretty-much-anything-you-put-in-front-of-me-so-i/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [It is our very fear of the future that distorts the now that could lead to a different future if we dared to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-woodman/it-is-our-very-fear-of-the-future-that-distorts-the-now-that-could/) [Marion Woodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-woodman/) > [“Do not be controlled by your fear of the future. You will only create a negative reality for yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brea-essex/do-not-be-controlled-by-your-fear-of-the-future-you-will-only-create/) Brea Essex > [We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-did-not-come-to-fear-the-future-we-came-here-to-shape-it/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Fear is crippling. 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I still use it, but I kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/to-me-fear-of-the-future-means-fear-of-technology-i-have-a-little-bit/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [“Every moment is brand new, but we often fill the new with fear of the future or pain of the past instead of simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivian-amis/every-moment-is-brand-new-but-we-often-fill-the-new-with-fear-of-the/) [Vivian Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivian-amis/) > [Fear of the future and longing for the past are major factors which impede appropriate action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shoshanna/fear-of-the-future-and-longing-for-the-past-are-major-factors-which/) [Brenda Shoshanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shoshanna/) > [If you live in fear of the future because of what happened in your past, you'll end up losing what you have in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/if-you-live-in-fear-of-the-future-because-of-what-happened-in-your/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) ## More by Quintilian > [“In writing are the roots, in writing are the foundations of eloquence; by writing resources are stored up, as it were, in a sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/in-writing-are-the-roots-in-writing-are-the-foundations-of-eloquence/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Virtue, though she gets her beginning from nature, yet receives her finishing touches from learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/virtue-though-she-gets-her-beginning-from-nature-yet-receives-her/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Vain hopes are like certain dreams of those who wake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/vain-hopes-are-like-certain-dreams-of-those-who-wake/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Though ambition may be a fault in itself, it is often the mother of virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/though-ambition-may-be-a-fault-in-itself-it-is-often-the-mother-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [It is easier to do many things than to do one thing continuously for a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/it-is-easier-to-do-many-things-than-to-do-one-thing-continuously-for/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/we-excuse-our-sloth-under-the-pretext-of-difficulty/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/one-thing-however-i-must-premise-that-without-the-assistance-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Medicine for the dead is too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/medicine-for-the-dead-is-too-late/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Our minds are like our stomaches; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/our-minds-are-like-our-stomaches-they-are-whetted-by-the-change-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [A laugh costs too much when bought at the expense of virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/a-laugh-costs-too-much-when-bought-at-the-expense-of-virtue/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [The soul languishing in obscurity contracts a kind of rust, or abandons itself to the chimera of presumption; for it is natural for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/the-soul-languishing-in-obscurity-contracts-a-kind-of-rust-or/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [He who speaks evil only differs from his who does evil in that he lacks opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/he-who-speaks-evil-only-differs-from-his-who-does-evil-in-that-he/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [That which offends the ear will not easily gain admission to the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/that-which-offends-the-ear-will-not-easily-gain-admission-to-the-mind/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [In almost everything, experience is more valuable than precept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/in-almost-everything-experience-is-more-valuable-than-precept/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Though ambition itself be a vice, yet it is often times the cause of virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/though-ambition-itself-be-a-vice-yet-it-is-often-times-the-cause-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) [Explore all 92 Quintilian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) ## More Fear quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. For eighteen months…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-ashley/that-horrible-stinging-sensation-returned-the-muscles-behind-my-eyes/) [Devon Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-ashley/) > [“...Often that which most we fear births the resolve that spurs us on to altitudes we could not have achieved, had we continued walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-t-anderson/often-that-which-most-we-fear-births-the-resolve-that-spurs-us-on-to/) [M.T. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-t-anderson/) > [What an incredible drug fear is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/what-an-incredible-drug-fear-is/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Anything that you find yourself worrying about regularly may find you suddenly wanting unrealistic changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagisa-tatsumi/anything-that-you-find-yourself-worrying-about-regularly-may-find-you/) Nagisa Tatsumi > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [“I had nowhere to go and did not wish to be seen by anyone for fear they would recognize my sadness and so for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-had-nowhere-to-go-and-did-not-wish-to-be-seen-by-anyone-for-fear/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“Snip off the little worries and expressions of worry” like little branches atop a tall tree.28 If you are truly worried, sharing your concerns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-sanders/snip-off-the-little-worries-and-expressions-of-worry-like-little/) [Tim Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-sanders/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. But they mix in the middle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-french/fear-and-desire-for-pleasure-aggressiveness-comes-out-of-fear/) [Marilyn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-french/) > [“Carrie Fisher. “Stay afraid, but do it anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-union/carrie-fisher-stay-afraid-but-do-it-anyway/) [Gabrielle Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-union/) > [“Yes, the issue was courage. It always had been, even as a kid. Things scared him. He couldn't help it. Noise scared him, dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/yes-the-issue-was-courage-it-always-had-been-even-as-a-kid-things/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [Don't be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don't let others discourage you or tell you that you can't do it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-b-elion/don-t-be-afraid-of-hard-work-nothing-worthwhile-comes-easily-don-t/) [Gertrude B. Elion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-b-elion/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) [Browse all 35,569 Fear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Quintilian" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-present-fortune/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fear" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-present-fortune/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/quintilian-7306_fear_fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-p_1363032.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/quintilian-7306_fear_fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-p_1363032.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/quintilian-7306_fear_fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-p_1363032.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune.” — Quintilian", "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": "Quintilian", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fear of the future is worse...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-present-fortune/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/fear-of-the-future-is-worse-than-one-s-present-fortune/#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 } } ] } ```