"We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon"
About this Quote
The stacking of “hope, the belief, the conviction” is classic FDR. It’s not redundancy; it’s escalation. “Hope” is emotional permission to endure. “Belief” is social glue, something communities can share. “Conviction” is the hard edge: a moral stance that justifies sacrifice, rationing, taxes, enlistment, and the expanding reach of government. He’s quietly converting private feeling into public mandate.
“We have always held” is the slyest move. It rewrites aspiration as inheritance, turning a political program into a national trait. If you doubt the path, you’re not just disagreeing with Roosevelt, you’re drifting from what “we” supposedly are. That inclusive pronoun is invitation and pressure at once.
Context matters: Roosevelt needed Americans to accept that pain now could purchase security later, whether through New Deal reforms or wartime endurance. The line offers a future roomy enough for everyone to project into it, yet firm enough to keep the ship moving. It’s optimism engineered for crisis: not escapism, but stamina.
Quote Details
| Topic | Hope |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (2026, January 15). We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-have-always-held-to-the-hope-the-belief-the-33709/
Chicago Style
Roosevelt, Franklin D. "We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-have-always-held-to-the-hope-the-belief-the-33709/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-have-always-held-to-the-hope-the-belief-the-33709/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
