Fear is the beggining of wisdom as i understand it comes from the teachings of Don Juan (american indian fella) as written in the books by Carlos Castaneda. Fear is the first of our four natural enemies, the second is clarity - you only get this once you have overcome fear then if you defeat clarity you get power, and thats a tough one to beat but not as bad as the final enemy Old age (can't beat that so our quest for knowledge, widom whatever will eventually end). It does make sense if you sit down and read it through properly
http://www.prismagems.com/castaneda/donjuan1.html