There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear. Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable.

Bovee praises a life lived with composure, suggesting that freedom from anxiety is not merely pleasant but aesthetically and morally admirable—“great beauty.” The aphorism then divides fear into two indictments: much of what we dread never happens (“baseless”), while the remainder reflects poorly on us (“discreditable”) because it springs from cowardice, guilty conscience, or exaggerated self-importance. The point is not that danger is unreal, but that habitual fear is usually either irrational or ethically diminishing. The quote belongs to a tradition of moralistic, stoic-leaning counsel that treats emotional discipline as a form of character and clarity.