Prison petrifies me and I don't want to go there.

监狱令我十分害怕，我不想去那儿。

Just the thought of making a speech petrifies me.

一想到要作讲演就把我吓坏了。

The moment a man stops dreaming is the moment he petrifies inside and starts writing snarfy letters disapproving of paragraphs like the one above.

一个人停止做梦的时刻也是开始付诸行动的时刻，逐步的内化和认识他所向往的东西，也逐渐有了不同于原来的想法。