Fear and trembling

It occurs to the careful thinker that fear is inherently selfish.

What causes fear? The expectation of the possibility of detriment to oneself or one's interests. That may be a very general and cold characterization, but it seems to encompass the range of the sentiment. If 'selfishness' can be broadly characterized as the desire to promote or maintain oneself or one's interests, then 'fear' is a direct symptom of selfishness.

So why isn't fear condemned in the same way as selfishness, or as a form of selfishness itself? Certainly fear is condemned in some circumstances, but it is accepted more widely that selfishness in most mundane, everyday interpersonal relations. For example, most outside observers would not fault parents for humanely punishing their children for acts of unusual or unreasonable selfishness. Yet it seems that the same outside observer would be likely to frown on punishing the same child for acts of unusual or unreasonable fear. Isn't fear just a manifestation of selfishness?

Now, clearly 'fear' and 'selfishness' are not equivalent. But what is the moral difference? There seems to be one, and the subtlety seems worth exploring.