4 Maccabees 1:23

23 Fear precedes pain and sorrow comes after.

4 Maccabees 1:23 In-Context

21 The emotions of both pleasure and pain have many consequences.

22 Thus desire precedes pleasure and delight follows it.

23 Fear precedes pain and sorrow comes after.

24 Anger, as a person will see by reflecting on this experience, is an emotion embracing pleasure and pain.

25 In pleasure there exists even a malevolent tendency, which is the most complex of all the emotions.