It was foolish indeed — thus to run farther and farther from all who could help her, as if she had been seeking a fit spot for the goblin-creature to eat her in at his leisure; but that is the way fear serves us: it always sides with the thing we are afraid of.

George MacDonald (1824-1905) Scottish novelist, poet

The Princess and the Goblin, ch. 14 (1872)
    (Source)