Ken Burns Quotes

Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.

The trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.

If you don't go towards the thing you fear, you won't be able to say you lived.

If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on.

To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all.

Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death.

Half the things that people do not succeed in are through fear of making the attempt.

Oftentimes, people stay where they are in life simply because of fear. But do you know that fear isn't reality? It's only a thought in your mind.

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive - the risk to be alive and express what we really are.

You have to be careful not to let your fear stop you doing things. It's very exciting to test yourself.

To be honest, I probably wouldn't have gone to Hollywood if I hadn't been offered 'Ugly Betty' because I was a wee bit feart. But you have to make yourself frightened. That's what keeps you alive.

The only things you regret are the things you don't do.

The greatest risk is really to take no risk at all. You've got to go out there, jump off the cliff, and take chances.

What's the problem with 'never?' It keeps you from trying. It ensures that you will fail. End of story.

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.

Eighty percent of all choices are based on fear. Most people don't choose what they want; they choose what they think is safe.

Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them.

A lot of people do not muster the courage to live their dreams because they are afraid to die.

There is always a reason you can’t do something.

I don't reject caution, but you also have to be careful about caution because there's a stage when it turns into paralysis.

If you start worrying about risks, you might as well stay inside the womb.

You tend to regret the things you haven't done.

The only regrets I have are things I didn't do.

I think to be courageous, you have to be afraid. For me, it feels very courageous when I go skiing because I'm very, very afraid to ski. It's dangerous! I feel very scared. But when I'm acting, I don't feel very scared.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.