Misfortunes that never happened: the hidden cost of fears on

“My life has been full of misfortunes, most of which never happened” captures a paradox of human cognition: we spend vast energy anticipating problems that do not materialize. The line is commonly attributed to Michel de Montaigne, and regardless of exact wording across translations, its point stands. Anticipatory fear frames the future as a sequence of threats, nudging us to overinvest in imagined disasters while underinvesting in opportunities and present well-being.