nothing to fear but fear itself. Franklin D. Roosevelt is often cited as the originator of “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself ” in his first inaugural address, when the country was at the bottom of the Great Depression. F.D.R., however, had many ghostwriters past to help him: ■ “The only thing I am afraid of is fear.”—Duke of Wellington ■ “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.”—Thoreau ■ “Nothing is terrible except fear itself.”—Francis Bacon ■ “The thing of which I have most fear is fear.”—Montaigne ■ “Be not afraid of sudden fear.”—Proverbs 3:25 |