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Success Quote by Arsenio Hall

"I am consumed with the fear of failing. Reaching deep down and finding confidence has made all my dreams come true"

About this Quote

Fear, in Arsenio Hall's telling, isn't a flaw to be cured; it's jet fuel. "Consumed with the fear of failing" lands with the blunt honesty of a comic who knows the audience can smell fake inspiration from the back row. He doesn't posture as fearless. He admits to being haunted, which is more believable, and more useful. For performers, especially, failure isn't abstract. It's a cold room, a dead punchline, a pilot that never airs, a career that evaporates between seasons.

The second sentence pulls a neat reversal: the same person who is "consumed" can also "reach deep down" and manufacture confidence. Hall frames confidence less as a personality trait and more as a tool you access under pressure. The subtext is craft: you build a version of yourself sturdy enough to walk onstage even when your brain is narrating your collapse in real time. That tension between dread and composure is basically the job description.

Context matters. Hall's rise in late-80s and early-90s media came with high stakes: a Black late-night host breaking into a space that wasn't built for him, carrying the expectation to represent and to win. His show thrived on a kind of communal swagger, a room that felt like a party. This quote hints at the private cost of producing that public ease.

It's also classic comedian self-mythology, but the good kind: not "believe in yourself" platitudes, more like an instruction manual. Keep the fear. Mine it. Then choose the voice that speaks louder.

Quote Details

TopicConfidence
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Hall, Arsenio. (2026, January 16). I am consumed with the fear of failing. Reaching deep down and finding confidence has made all my dreams come true. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-am-consumed-with-the-fear-of-failing-reaching-138044/

Chicago Style
Hall, Arsenio. "I am consumed with the fear of failing. Reaching deep down and finding confidence has made all my dreams come true." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-am-consumed-with-the-fear-of-failing-reaching-138044/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I am consumed with the fear of failing. Reaching deep down and finding confidence has made all my dreams come true." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-am-consumed-with-the-fear-of-failing-reaching-138044/. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1955) is a Comedian from USA.

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