--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Clearly, all fear has an element of…" description: "\"Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a leaning away from the moment. Its dynamic is not unlike that of strong desire except that fear lea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/stephen-levine-6949_desire_clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resis_334685.png" --- # Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a… ![“Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a leaning away from the moment. Its dynamic is not unlike that of strong desire except that fear leans backward into the last safe moment while desire leans forward toward the next possibility of satisfaction. Each lacks presence. (29)” quote by Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/stephen-levine-6949_desire_clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resis_334685.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/stephen-levine-6949_desire_clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resis_334685.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/stephen-levine-6949_desire_clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resis_334685.png) > “Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a leaning away from the moment. Its dynamic is not unlike that of strong desire except that fear leans backward into the last safe moment while desire leans forward toward the next possibility of satisfaction. Each lacks presence. (29)” [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fear and desire are opposite forces; fear retreats to safety, desire pushes toward new possibilities, both lacking present awareness. **In simple terms:** Fear looks back, desire looks forward. Key Takeaway Recognize and balance both. Themes fear desire psychology presence Mood introspective motivational Type psychological philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - decision making - creative work - mental health therapy Key Concepts motivation anxiety future orientation Questions to Reflect On - What holds you back? - What drives you forward? A Different Perspective May not apply to all emotional experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Satisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfaction/) [Strong desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-desire/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Most people's lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-s-lives-are-run-by-desire-and-fear-desire-is-the-need-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Joy, grief, desire or fear, whate'er the name The passion bears, its influence is the same; Where things exceed your hope or fall below,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/joy-grief-desire-or-fear-whate-er-the-name-the-passion-bears-its/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“I moaned in frustration, trapped between desire and fear. “God, Roth.” “In your life, at this time, those two words could be considered synonymous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasinda-wilder/i-moaned-in-frustration-trapped-between-desire-and-fear-god-roth-in/) [Jasinda Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasinda-wilder/) > [If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there-is-everything-to-fear-an/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [I am dead already. Physical death will make no difference in my case. I am timeless being. I am free of desire or fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/i-am-dead-already-physical-death-will-make-no-difference-in-my-case-i/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [Having wandered some distance among gloomy rocks, I came to the entrance of a great cavern ... Two contrary emotions arose in me: fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/having-wandered-some-distance-among-gloomy-rocks-i-came-to-the/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Everything you do is triggered by an emotion of either desire or fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/everything-you-do-is-triggered-by-an-emotion-of-either-desire-or-fear/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [It's important to only think about what you desire, not what you fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/it-s-important-to-only-think-about-what-you-desire-not-what-you-fear/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [When you no longer are compelled by desire and fear . . . when you have seen the radiance in eternity from all forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-no-longer-are-compelled-by-desire-and-fear-when-you-have/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Life is the dance between what you desire most, and what you fear most](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/life-is-the-dance-between-what-you-desire-most-and-what-you-fear-most/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“Whatwe fear we also desire, and what we desire we fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/whatwe-fear-we-also-desire-and-what-we-desire-we-fear/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [He who has few things to desire cannot have many to fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/he-who-has-few-things-to-desire-cannot-have-many-to-fear/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [I always tell people: Life is the dance between what you desire most and what you fear most. You've got to be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-benioff/i-always-tell-people-life-is-the-dance-between-what-you-desire-most/) [Marc Benioff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-benioff/) > [“Only occasionally can you glimpse through the embrasures of an otherwise perfectly polite person to see the cannons aimed out, only in a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-paterniti/only-occasionally-can-you-glimpse-through-the-embrasures-of-an/) [Michael Paterniti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-paterniti/) > [“But the kings of modern times, restrained by the limits of mere probability, have neither courage nor desire. They fear the eat that hears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/but-the-kings-of-modern-times-restrained-by-the-limits-of-mere/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) ## More by Stephen Levine > [ “\[T\]hose who insist they've got their 'shit together' are usually standing in it at the time. (16)” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/t-hose-who-insist-they-ve-got-their-shit-together-are-usually/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [“When you can accept discomfort, doing so allows a balance of mind. That surrender, that letting go of wanting anything to be other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/when-you-can-accept-discomfort-doing-so-allows-a-balance-of-mind-that/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [Forgiveness is mental floss! Build the capacity to forgive slowly - start with little unkind acts, otherwise you'll sabotage yourself. When we forgive, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/forgiveness-is-mental-floss-build-the-capacity-to-forgive-slowly/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [If there is a single definition of healing it is to enter with mercy and awareness those pains, mental and physical, from which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/if-there-is-a-single-definition-of-healing-it-is-to-enter-with-mercy/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/if-you-were-going-to-die-soon-and-had-only-one-phone-call-you-could/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [Relate to the fear, not just from it. (50)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/relate-to-the-fear-not-just-from-it-50/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [Love is not what we become, but what we already are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/love-is-not-what-we-become-but-what-we-already-are/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [...healing comes not from being loving but from being itself. It is not a case of being clear but of clear being. This healing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/healing-comes-not-from-being-loving-but-from-being-itself-it-is-not-a/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [If you want the other person more than anything else in the world, you're in major trouble and the relationship is a wobbly pivot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/if-you-want-the-other-person-more-than-anything-else-in-the-world-you/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [Letting the last breath come. Letting the last breath go. Dissolving, dissolving into vast space, the light body released from its heavier form. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/letting-the-last-breath-come-letting-the-last-breath-go-dissolving/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [“A drop of pond water under the microscope just like in science class but now your are the pond & the microscope is mindfulness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/a-drop-of-pond-water-under-the-microscope-just-like-in-science-class/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [If sequestered pain made a sound, the atmosphere would be humming all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/if-sequestered-pain-made-a-sound-the-atmosphere-would-be-humming-all/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [In all serious disease states we find a concomitant low oxygen state... Low oxygen in the body tissues is a sure indicator for disease...Hypoxia,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/in-all-serious-disease-states-we-find-a-concomitant-low-oxygen-state/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [The saddest part about being human is not paying attention. Presence is the gift of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/the-saddest-part-about-being-human-is-not-paying-attention-presence/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [Until we find out who was born this time around, it seems irrelevant to seek earlier identities. I have heard many people speak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/until-we-find-out-who-was-born-this-time-around-it-seems-irrelevant/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) [Explore all 96 Stephen Levine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a leaning away from the moment. Its dynamic is not unlike that of strong desire except that fear leans backward into the last safe moment while desire leans forward toward the next possibility of satisfaction. Each lacks presence. (29)", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Levine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resistance-and-a-leaning-away-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resistance-and-a-leaning-away-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/stephen-levine-6949_desire_clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resis_334685.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/stephen-levine-6949_desire_clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resis_334685.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae1/stephen-levine-6949_desire_clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resis_334685.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a leaning away from the moment. Its dynamic is not unlike…” — Stephen Levine", "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": "Stephen Levine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Clearly, all fear has an element...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resistance-and-a-leaning-away-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resistance-and-a-leaning-away-from/#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 } } ] } ```