These 5 Famous Geniuses Were Afraid of the Dumbest Stuff
Great minds don’t always come with great courage. In fact, some of the most brilliant figures in history had surprisingly strange hang-ups. These fears were so quirky, you’d think they were pulled from a sitcom rather than a biography. Here are the top ones that stand out.
Steve Jobs Couldn’t Stand Buttons
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Jobs’ real enemy was the humble button. He famously loathed them, which is why you’d rarely catch him in anything but a sleek, buttonless turtleneck. This aversion helped inspire Apple’s move toward smooth, touch-based tech. In a way, your iPhone’s sleek surface might just exist because one man said, “No, thank you” to shirt buttons.
Napoleon Bonaparte Hated Open Doors
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This small man with big energy had zero tolerance for open doors. Napoleon insisted that doors be opened just wide enough for someone to squeeze through, then shut immediately. He believed they made him vulnerable. The guy who conquered most of Europe couldn’t conquer the anxiety of a cracked door.
H.P. Lovecraft Was Terrified of the Cold
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The king of cosmic horror wasn’t just creeped out by unknowable monsters, but he also fainted from cold temperatures. Lovecraft took elaborate precautions to avoid chilly environments, sometimes losing consciousness when exposed. He bundled up obsessively and avoided chillier climates. It’s ironic, considering how much of his writing is set in gloomy, frostbitten realms. Maybe writing about fear was his way of thawing it out.
Nikola Tesla Was Revolted by Pearls
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Tesla, the genius behind alternating current, had one non-negotiable rule: no pearls. He couldn’t bear to look at them, let alone be near someone wearing them. Rumor has it he’d even send his secretary home if she showed up with them on. Circular objects in general seemed to unnerve him, which might explain his aversion to jewelry, hair, and touching things that didn’t follow neat geometry.
Alfred Hitchcock Feared Eggs
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The master of suspense reserved his strongest disgust not for murder or mayhem, but for eggs. He once described yolks as “revolting,” calling the yellow center a “yellow thing, round, without any holes.” While he reportedly never ate a plain egg, he tolerated quiche—apparently, the egg in disguise didn’t bother him.
Genghis Khan Disliked Dogs
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Yes, the fearsome Mongol leader who conquered half the known world was apparently uneasy around dogs. As a boy, he was warned by his father to avoid them, and some say the anxiety stuck. It’s possible he had a run-in with one of Mongolia’s notoriously tough herding dogs. Either way, he could defeat entire armies, but maybe not a barking mutt.
Hans Christian Andersen Dreaded Being Buried Alive
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The man who gave us fairy tales like The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling had a chilling fear of being mistaken for dead. He often slept with a note on his nightstand that read, “I only appear to be dead.” Later in life, he even asked doctors to slice open his veins postmortem just to make sure—a grim measure for peace of mind.
Salvador Dalí Feared Insects, Especially Grasshoppers
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Dalí could paint melting clocks and surreal dreamscapes without flinching, but throw a grasshopper into the mix, and he’d lose it. As a kid, bullies used them against him, which sparked a fear so intense it led to hallucinations in adulthood. Bugs crawled through both his nightmares and his art, usually as symbols of decay, dread, and unresolved childhood trauma, but always in style.
Heraclius Wouldn’t Cross Water
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The Byzantine emperor supposedly refused to enter Constantinople after the battle until a floating bridge of boats was constructed so he wouldn’t touch water. While some scholars believe this was satire rather than fact, the story continued to paint Heraclius as a ruler with an unusually soggy Achilles’ heel.
Sarah Bernhardt Was Afraid of Abandonment
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On stage, she was magnetic. Offstage, she was haunted by a fear that people would leave and never come back. Having been raised in foster care with a distant family, Bernhardt carried this fear throughout her life. It didn’t stop her from becoming one of the most celebrated actresses of her time, but behind the curtain, her personal script always had a shadow of doubt.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Avoided the Number 13
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The man who rallied a nation during the Great Depression and World War II wouldn’t travel on the 13th or sit at tables with thirteen people. FDR took his triskaidekaphobia seriously. It indeed was nothing more than superstition, but when you’ve got global affairs to worry about, maybe it’s easier to just skip the number and keep moving. Ironically, he died on the 12th of April.
Augustus Caesar’s Fear of Thunder and Lightning
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According to Roman historian Suetonius, after a near-miss with a lightning strike, Augustus developed a deep-seated fear of storms. He’d seek shelter in underground bunkers and carried a piece of seal skin, which was thought to offer protection. Just to be extra safe, he built a temple for Jupiter, the Thunderer.
Katharine Hepburn Feared Performing Live
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Although Hepburn won four Academy Awards, her fear of live audiences caused physical distress. She often vomited backstage and sought reassurance after every show. Her anxiety didn’t stop her from working, but it never really left her either.
Aretha Franklin Refused to Fly
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The Queen of Soul grounded herself after developing aviophobia in the 1980s. A course meant to address her fear didn’t stick as she skipped crucial sessions and never completed it. Her refusal to fly limited her international appearances.
Louise Bourgeois Feared Silence and Insomnia
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The artist behind some of the 20th century’s most haunting work wasn’t afraid of monsters or darkness, but of stillness. Silence and sleeplessness were her personal horrors. Rather than escape them, she drew them. Her Insomnia Drawings, created in the middle of restless nights, turned fear into form.