the only thing we have to fear is fear itself who said it

The famous line “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” was spoken by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933.

Who said it?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) delivered this line during his inauguration as the 32nd President of the United States, at the height of the Great Depression. The full sentence is:

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

He used it to rally the American people, arguing that widespread panic and loss of confidence were making the economic crisis worse than the actual conditions.

Where did the idea come from?

Although FDR made the phrase famous, he didn’t invent the idea from scratch. The sentiment that “nothing is terrible except fear itself” goes back centuries:

• In the 16th century, French philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote: “The thing of which I have most fear is fear”.

• In 1623, English philosopher Francis Bacon wrote in Latin: Nil terribile nisi ipse timor (“Nothing is terrible except fear itself”).

• In the 19th century, American writer Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal: “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear”.

Roosevelt’s speechwriters (especially Raymond Moley and adviser Louis Howe) likely drew on this long tradition of thought about fear paralyzing action.

Why is it so famous?

The line became iconic because of its timing and context:

• It was delivered when the U.S. was in deep economic crisis, with banks failing and unemployment soaring.

• Roosevelt framed fear as the real enemy — not just poverty or unemployment, but the paralyzing terror that stops people from acting.

• Over time, the quote has been widely repeated in politics, self‑help, and pop culture as a call to courage in the face of uncertainty.

So, while the idea is ancient, the exact words “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” are most famously associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 inaugural address.