How Fear Controls Our Minds — The Essays of Montaigne

Montaigne calls fear a passion that dethrones judgment faster than any other. Even soldiers see flocks as squadrons and friends as enemies; at Borgo San Pietro an ensign runs toward the enemy thinking he retreats, and another dies of pure fright without a wound.

Fear adds wings or nails feet in place, throws armies into opposite flights, and can push cowards through enemy lines out of shame. Montaigne admits the thing he fears most is fear itself, since it suspended Pompey's friends from grieving their captain until Egyptian ships were gone.

Those who dread losing estates live in anguish, while the poor, enslaved, or exiled often live as merrily. Some fear death more than death, hanging or drowning themselves to escape it. Greeks also knew panic terrors that seized whole cities without cause.