The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
First Inaugural Address (1933)
FD
Franklin D. Roosevelt quotes
1882-1945 ยท Presidents and world leaders
32nd U.S. President who led America through the Great Depression and World War II.
8 quotes, 8 traced to where Roosevelt said or wrote them.
It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
Oglethorpe University Commencement Address (1932)
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
First Inaugural Address (1933)
Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance.
First Inaugural Address (1933)
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
Address to the Governing Board of the Pan American Union (1939)
Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.
Radio address (1939)
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
Second Inaugural Address (1937)
Be sincere, be brief, be seated.
Advice to his son James on public speaking, as quoted in Basic Public Speaking (1963)