I hadn't stopped fearing the chance of passing on an illness, but that fear had become balanced by the observation that being ill wasn't the same as being beaten.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I never had a conscious fear of death, but I did have a conscious fear of sickness. By the time I completed medical school, that fear was gone.
After I was assaulted in Egypt, I learned fear. I've just never been so scared in my life. I've never been so close to death.
I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.
To overcome any sort of fear is satisfying, and to overcome it well is even better.
Right out of high school I never had the fear of getting beat, which is how most people lose.
I don't walk around with fear. I walk around with strength. I believe in cause and effect.
Fear was absolutely necessary. Without it, I would have been scared to death.
I had my moments when I got very frightened that I would not recover.
I have a theory because I was being beaten up a lot by people outside of school, it was almost like if I could make myself sick enough they'd take sympathy on me.
In boxing, I had a lot of fear. Fear was good. But, for the first time, in the bout with Muhammad Ali, I didn't have any fear. I thought, 'This is easy. This is what I've been waiting for'. No fear at all. No nervousness. And I lost.