"The only thing we have to fear is...fear itself" by F.D.Roosevelt - What do you think it means?

I have been writing some threads about how i want to love fear. I always felt fear about dark emotions (fear, anger, depression, hate etc)

When these emotions burst the reaction is always the same: reject it, fear it, try to end it.

Add more fuel to the fire. Fight fire with fire...

So now i say: i love my fear, my hate, my loneliness, all those bad vibe emotions are no longer bad, they are good, i love them. And the situations that i used to avoid, that i used to fear, i no longer fear them, i no longer avoid them.

So now i am not afraid to feel fear anymore because i like it!

Now i am no longer scared of scary events.

Remember this scene from Batman Begins?

I loved this movie.

Whats your take on this?

Fear is the biggest motivator when it comes to atrocities committed by mankind. On the other hand, it is also one of the greatest inhibitors when it comes to reaching for our dreams. Fear is one of the most crippling emotions we will ever know, besides hatred.

I mean, I don't think he really meant anything specific by it. It's just an emotion that's yielded some particularly nasty fruit in the past and continues to make itself known through various devices and maneuvers that we see on the news.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


I dont think you got the deep meaning of it, but ok i respect your opinion.

If you have learnt to embrace fear that's a good thing. If you feel fearful and there's not much you can do about it, you might as well accept it and befriend it. It's only an emotion, that will come and go.

reply to post by Manula

"The only thing we have to fear is...fear itself" by F.D.Roosevelt - What do you think it means?

Exactly what it says: The only thing we have to fear IS fear.

Here's a bit more of what FDR said in that speech:

"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 vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory."

Not the kind of leadership we find anymore in this country.

reply to post by Manula


If there is fear most do try to avoid it and they go to the mind to find away out. It is good if one can feel the fear bodily - try and locate it and feel right into it. if one does this the feeling will transform into something that is nothing like fear.

Addressing the question posed in the thread title, it means don't be a chickens##t.

And polar bears, gotta have a fear of polar bears as well, they dont mess around, relentless beasts. Dont wanna get chased by a 1500lb polar bear, nope nope.

If you find you DO NOT have a fear of polar bears then you are more than likely a crazy person.

In the speech FDR was trying to calm a nation which had found itself in the middle of a financial depression unlike any other. Twelve people jumped to their deaths on Black Thursday. Millions had lost everything and welfare as we know it hadn't been established yet. People were truly and deeply afraid of what the next day would bring. I'm not sure we understand the kind of fear he was talking about.

FDR's speech, while motivating and heart felt, probably offered little solace to most of the nation. Instead of hearing how they shouldn't be afraid, I think people would have rather heard where they can get three hots and a cot.

Originally posted by Tuttle
And polar bears, gotta have a fear of polar bears as well, they dont mess around, relentless beasts. Dont wanna get chased by a 1500lb polar bear, nope nope.

If you find you DO NOT have a fear of polar bears then you are more than likely a crazy person.

edit on 13-5-2013 by Tuttle because: (no reason given)

I do NOT have a fear of polar bears

But then, I can afford to think they look cuddly, from the comfort of my home in the UK

back to the thread topic...nothing to fear but fear itself. It's true. It's another way of saying "anticipation is worse than the moment of death itself"

How many times have you dreaded something, only to come through it totally unscathed? Be it a trip to the dentist, some public speaking, funerals. It's never as bad as you thought it would be.

So yes, OP, love you fear, it is part of the ying and yang which make you. The light and the dark, no point in fighting it, it just is.

His statement is meaningless. It is impossible to fear something called "fear". There is no such thing. One cannot be hungry because of hunger. One cannot be sad because of sadness. We can only fear the situations we find ourselves in and the way we react to them.

Originally posted by LesMisanthrope
His statement is meaningless. It is impossible to fear something called "fear". There is no such thing. One cannot be hungry because of hunger. One cannot be sad because of sadness. We can only fear the situations we find ourselves in and the way we react to them.

The fear that drives your actions, is the fear its referring to. Fear and the actions people take on its behalf, is the only true destroyer of our lives and our Habitat. It's the only enemy we have, and if allowed can manifest destructive results by commanding your actions. By ruling your being, fear can destroy life. Outside of this fear we coddle within ourselves, there is no enemy and no fear.

Originally posted by LesMisanthrope
His statement is meaningless. It is impossible to fear something called "fear". There is no such thing. One cannot be hungry because of hunger. One cannot be sad because of sadness. We can only fear the situations we find ourselves in and the way we react to them.

I would agree with you but for some time now, i understood that events don't matter, it is my reaction to them that creates emotions. But even knowing this, sometimes events trigger those dark emotions and i find myself refusing to feel that way, so yeah, it´s our reaction to events that trigger emotions but ultimately it' s the dark emotions that we don't like, events in itself are neutral, its our emotions in response to them that we really don't like.

This is the reason i started talking about emotions.