Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(Saturday, March 4, 1933: Washington, DC)

President Hoover, Mr. 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 into 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 conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

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. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of 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

富兰克林·罗斯福总统首任就职演说

1933年3月4日

我能肯定地说 ，在进行授职仪式的这一天，我的同胞门都期待我在就职之际，能像我国目前形势所要求的那样，坦率而果敢的发表讲话。现在正是坦诚、勇敢地说出实话、讲出全部实情的最佳时候。我们也不必躲闪，不敢面对我们国家今天的实情。这个伟大的国家会一如既往地坚持下去，它会复兴而繁荣起来。

因此，让我首先表明我的坚定信念：我们唯一畏惧的就是畏惧本身——一种不可名状的、丧失理智的、毫无来由的恐惧，这会麻痹我们转退为进的意志。一个坦率而有活力的领导，总能在吾国生活阴云密布的时刻得到人民应有理解和支持，从而为胜利准备了不可或缺的条件。我相信，值此危难关头，各位会再度给予这种支持。

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 in thousands of families are gone.

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.