罗斯福演讲the only thing we have to fear is fear itself

the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--

罗斯福演讲

President Hoover, Mister Chief Justice, my friends:

This is a day of national consecration, and I am certain that on this day, my fellow Americans

expect that on my induction in the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision

which the present

situation of our people impels.

This

is

preeminently the time to

speak the

truth,

the

whole

truth,

frankly

and

boldly.

Nor

need

we

shrink

from

honestly

facing

the

conditions facing our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive

and will prosper. So first of all, let me express 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. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness

and

vigor

has

met

with

that

understanding

and

support

of

the

people

themselves,

which

is

essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in

these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank

God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen, our ability

to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means

of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie

on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce, and the savings of many years and

thousands of families are gone.

More

important,

a

host

of

unemployed

citizens

face

the

grim

problem

of

existence,

and

an

equal and great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities

of the moment.

And

yet,

our

distress

comes

from

no

failure

of

substance,

we

are

stricken

by

no

plague

of

locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered, because they believed and

were not afraid, we have so much to be thankful for. Nature surrounds us with her bounty, and

human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes

in

the

very

sight

of

the

supply.

Primarily,

this

is

because

the

rulers

of

the

exchange

of

mankind’s

goods

have

failed,

through

their

own

stubbornness

and

their

own

incompetence,

have admitted their failure and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers

stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True, they have tried, but

their efforts

have been cast

in

the

pattern of

an outworn tradition.

Faced by a failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of

the lure of profit by which they induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have

resorted to exhortation, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They only know the rules of

a

generation

of

self-seekers.

They

have

no

vision,

and

when

there

is

no

vision,

the

people

perish.

Yes, the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We

may

now

restore

that

temple

to

the

ancient

truths.

A

measure

of

that

restoration

lies

in

the

extent to which we apply social value, more noble than mere monetary profits. Happiness lies

not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative

efforts, the joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of

evanescent profits.

These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us, if they teach us that our true destiny

is not to be ministered on to, but to minister to ourselves, to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with

the abandonment of a false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued

only by the standards of pride of place and personal profits, and there must be an end to our

conduct in banking and in business, which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of

callous and selfish wrong-doing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only

on

honesty,

on

honor,

on

the

sacredness

of

our

obligation,

on

faithful

protection

and

on

unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live. Restoration calls, however, not for changes

in ethics alone. This nation is asking for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we take it

wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the government

itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through

this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use

of our great natural resources.

Hand

in

hand

with

that,

we

must

frankly

recognize

the

overbalance

of

population

in

our

industrial centers and by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution in an effort to provide

better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.

Yes the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the value of the agricultural product and

with

this

the

power

to

purchase

the

output

of

our

cities.

It

can

be

helped

by

preventing

realistically, the tragedy of the growing losses through fore closures of our small homes and

our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the federal, the state, and the local government

act

forthwith

on

the

demands

that

their

costs

be

drastically

reduce.

It

can

be

helped

by

the

unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, unequal. It can be

helped

by

national

planning

for,

and

supervision

of

all

forms

of

transportation,

and

of

communications,

and

other

utilities

that

have

a

definitely

public

character.

There

are

many

ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it. We must

act, we must act quickly.

And finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work, we require two safeguards against

the return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and

credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people’s money; and

there must be provisions for an adequate but sound currency.

These, my friends, are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special

session, detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the

48 states.