"There's a phenomenon for you," cried the student and he laughed.

This evening, however, on coming out into the street, he became acutely aware of his fears.

"I want to attempt a thing /like that/ and am frightened by these trifles," he thought, with an odd smile.

"Hm . . . yes, all is in a man's hands and he lets it all slip from cowardice, that's an axiom. It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of.

Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what they fear most. . . ."

[ Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime & Punishment ]