a speech about nothing

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An Essay on Nothing

Sophia gottfried meditates on the emptiness of non-existence..

In philosophy there is a lot of emphasis on what exists. We call this ontology , which means, the study of being. What is less often examined is what does not exist.

It is understandable that we focus on what exists, as its effects are perhaps more visible. However, gaps or non-existence can also quite clearly have an impact on us in a number of ways. After all, death, often dreaded and feared, is merely the lack of existence in this world (unless you believe in ghosts). We are affected also by living people who are not there, objects that are not in our lives, and knowledge we never grasp.

Upon further contemplation, this seems quite odd and raises many questions. How can things that do not exist have such bearing upon our lives? Does nothing have a type of existence all of its own? And how do we start our inquiry into things we can’t interact with directly because they’re not there? When one opens a box, and exclaims “There is nothing inside it!”, is that different from a real emptiness or nothingness? Why is nothingness such a hard concept for philosophy to conceptualize?

Let us delve into our proposed box, and think inside it a little. When someone opens an empty box, they do not literally find it devoid of any sort of being at all, since there is still air, light, and possibly dust present. So the box is not truly empty. Rather, the word ‘empty’ here is used in conjunction with a prior assumption. Boxes were meant to hold things, not to just exist on their own. Inside they might have a present; an old family relic; a pizza; or maybe even another box. Since boxes have this purpose of containing things ascribed to them, there is always an expectation there will be something in a box. Therefore, this situation of nothingness arises from our expectations, or from our being accustomed. The same is true of statements such as “There is no one on this chair.” But if someone said, “There is no one on this blender”, they might get some odd looks. This is because a chair is understood as something that holds people, whereas a blender most likely not.

The same effect of expectation and corresponding absence arises with death. We do not often mourn people we only might have met; but we do mourn those we have known. This pain stems from expecting a presence and having none. Even people who have not experienced the presence of someone themselves can still feel their absence due to an expectation being confounded. Children who lose one or both of their parents early in life often feel that lack of being through the influence of the culturally usual idea of a family. Just as we have cultural notions about the box or chair, there is a standard idea of a nuclear family, containing two parents, and an absence can be noted even by those who have never known their parents.

This first type of nothingness I call ‘perceptive nothingness’. This nothingness is a negation of expectation: expecting something and being denied that expectation by reality. It is constructed by the individual human mind, frequently through comparison with a socially constructed concept.

Pure nothingness, on the other hand, does not contain anything at all: no air, no light, no dust. We cannot experience it with our senses, but we can conceive it with the mind. Possibly, this sort of absolute nothing might have existed before our universe sprang into being. Or can something not arise from nothing? In which case, pure nothing can never have existed.

If we can for a moment talk in terms of a place devoid of all being, this would contain nothing in its pure form. But that raises the question, Can a space contain nothing; or, if there is space, is that not a form of existence in itself?

This question brings to mind what’s so baffling about nothing: it cannot exist . If nothing existed , it would be something . So nothing, by definition, is not able to ‘be’.

Is absolute nothing possible, then? Perhaps not. Perhaps for example we need something to define nothing; and if there is something, then there is not absolutely nothing. What’s more, if there were truly nothing, it would be impossible to define it. The world would not be conscious of this nothingness. Only because there is a world filled with Being can we imagine a dull and empty one. Nothingness arises from Somethingness, then: without being to compare it to, nothingness has no existence. Once again, pure nothingness has shown itself to be negation.

A world where there is nothing is just an empty shell, you might reply; but the shell itself exists, is something. And even if there were no matter, arguably space could still exist, so could time; and these are not nothing.

Someday we may come face to face with pure space, that is a nothingness waiting to be filled. Possibly, when scientists find a way to safely pilot spaceships into black holes, or are able to create a pure vacuum, we will be forced to look straight into the void. But even if that really is nothing, by entering into that nothingness, humans will destroy it by filling it. Or perhaps we will be consumed by it and all traces left of our existence will be erased.

Death, the ultimate void for humans, makes people uneasy for obvious reasons: all that they are will be forever reduced to a blank space felt only by loved ones, and even that absence will be forgotten someday. However, let us not steer away from these questions about nothingness, even if they may take us to bleak places. When one looks a little closer at the big questions, even though it may seem contradictory, nothingness appears everywhere. And if we want to learn how something came from nothing, or if there ever was nothing, we can not shy away from looking into the scary void a little closer.

© Sophia Gottfried 2020

Sophia Gottfried is the philosophy club president at the Harker School in San Jose.

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Poems & Poets

Speech: “ Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ”

(from Macbeth , spoken by Macbeth) Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

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The Art of Nothing

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Definition of nothing

 (Entry 1 of 4)

see also next to nothing

Definition of nothing  (Entry 2 of 4)

Definition of nothing  (Entry 3 of 4)

Definition of nothing  (Entry 4 of 4)

• noways
• insignificancy
• lightweight
• pigmy
• snippersnapper
• whippersnapper

Examples of nothing in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nothing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle English, from Old English nān thing, nāthing , from nān no + thing thing — more at none

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

12th century, in the meaning defined above

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

1611, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing nothing

• all - or - nothing
• almost nothing
• apropos of nothing
• betray nothing
• can make nothing of
• come to nothing
• do - nothing
• do nothing for
• double or nothing
• for nothing
• good - for - nothing
• had nothing to recommend him
• have (got) nothing left to prove
• have little / nothing to recommend him / her
• have little / nothing to recommend it
• have nothing against
• have nothing in common
• have nothing on (someone)
• here goes nothing
• if nothing else
• in nothing flat
• It's nothing to do with
• know - nothing
• lack / want for nothing
• leave nothing to be desired
• leave nothing to chance
• leave nothing to the imagination
• mean nothing to (someone)
• next to nothing
• nothing but skin and bones
• nothing but trouble
• nothing comes of
• nothing could be farther from the truth
• nothing could be further from someone's mind
• nothing could be further from the truth
• nothing daunted
• nothing doing
• nothing else
• nothing else for it
• nothing for it
• nothing (further) to do with
• nothing if not
• nothing in it (for someone)
• nothing less than
• nothing like
• nothing of the kind
• nothing of the sort
• nothing personal
• nothing short of
• nothing so much as
• nothing succeeds like success
• nothing to it
• nothing to sneeze at
• nothing to sniff at
• nothing to worry about
• nothing to write home about
• nothing ventured, nothing gained
• on a hiding to nothing
• stick at nothing
• stop at nothing
• think nothing of
• think nothing of it
• to say nothing of

Articles Related to nothing

Words We're Watching: 'Nothingburger'

Where's the beef?

Is 'None' Singular or Plural?

Or both? Or neither?

Dictionary Entries Near nothing

nothingarian

Cite this Entry

“Nothing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nothing. Accessed 16 Aug. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of nothing.

 (Entry 1 of 3)

Kids Definition of nothing  (Entry 2 of 3)

Kids Definition of nothing  (Entry 3 of 3)

More from Merriam-Webster on nothing

Nglish: Translation of nothing for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of nothing for Arabic Speakers

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Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entirety

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington.

Monday marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Below is a transcript of his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. NPR's Talk of the Nation aired the speech in 2010 — listen to that broadcast at the audio link above.

Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders gather before a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington. National Archives/Hulton Archive via Getty Images hide caption

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check.

Code Switch

The power of martin luther king jr.'s anger.

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

Martin Luther King is not your mascot

We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

Civil rights protesters march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Kurt Severin/Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Throughline

Bayard rustin: the man behind the march on washington (2021).

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, when will you be satisfied? We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only.

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

How The Voting Rights Act Came To Be And How It's Changed

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

People clap and sing along to a freedom song between speeches at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Express Newspapers via Getty Images hide caption

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

Nikole Hannah-Jones on the power of collective memory

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This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.

Correction Jan. 15, 2024

A previous version of this transcript included the line, "We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now." The correct wording is "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now."

Nothing to fear but fear itself

By Franklin D. Roosevelt

In his first inauguration speech, Franklin D. Roosevelt used this phrase, “nothing to fear but fear itself.” That speech was charged with the rhetorics of hope and courage.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

He is remembered for the New Deal Coalition.

Poem Analyzed by Sudip Das Gupta

First-class B.A. Honors Degree in English Literature

This phrase, “nothing to fear but fear itself”, is a reference to the sensation of fear that is the worst enemy of humankind. It keeps one aback and troubles one’s soul. The worst form of fear is the gloomy thoughts that create an eerie atmosphere inside one’s mind. Through this phrase, the speaker , FDR, refers to this mental framework that should not be encouraged. As it has a disastrous effect on one’s courage and the nation’s progress as a whole. However, the phrase is paraphrased here and FDR included this rhetorically charged phrase in a different manner.

Explore Nothing to fear but fear itself

• 1 Source of Nothing to fear but fear itself
• 2 Meaning of Nothing to fear but fear itself
• 3 Figurative Language in Nothing to fear but fear itself
• 4 Allusion in Nothing to fear but fear itself
• 5 Historical Context of Nothing to fear but fear itself
• 6 Notable Uses of Nothing to fear but fear itself
• 7 Similar Quotes

Source of Nothing to fear but fear itself

The first inauguration ceremony of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was held at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, March 4, 1933. Democrat Roosevelt defeated the Republican Herbert Hoover in the 1932 presidential election. During that time, the nation was at its depths of the Great Depression. People eagerly awaited Roosevelt’s inaugural speech that showed the way out for the upcoming days. The newly elected President Roosevelt delivered his 1,833-word, 20-minute-long inaugural speech and that speech included the pointed reference to “fear itself” in the first section. The phrase is emboldened in the following excerpt of the speech.

I am certain that 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 Nation 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 vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. ( FDR’s First Inaugural Address )

Meaning of Nothing to fear but fear itself

In the excerpt quoted above, the phrase, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” is a little bit tricky to understand while reading this line for the first time. However, after reading it again, one can understand that here the speaker is referring to the sensation of fear. According to Roosevelt, there is nothing to fear in this world. The only thing one has to fear is the dark thoughts lying inside the mind. Those thoughts make one fearful not the object that one thinks is the cause of the trouble. The meaning of this line, in this way, makes sense. Otherwise, it might seem that the speaker is encouraging one to be fearful. But he is saying just the opposite. His motive was to hint at the root cause of fear.

Figurative Language in Nothing to fear but fear itself

In this phrase, “nothing to fear but fear itself”, there are two important rhetorical devices . The first one is litote. In the beginning, the speaker uses a negative word, “nothing” to emphasize the affirmation. However, the negative word used at the beginning also reflects the contemporary scenario that was troubled due to the Great Depression. Thereafter, the usage of the second “fear” as a noun, refers to the sensation of fear. It seems to be a reference to human emotions that make one’s mind foggy and blind. In this way, the second “fear” is a metaphor for emotional turbulence caused by overthinking about the object of fear. Moreover, this phrase also contains an antithesis .

Allusion in Nothing to fear but fear itself

This phrase, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself”, contains an allusion to the Great Depression. Here, by referring to “fear”, Roosevelt pointed at the object of fear. During that time when he was delivering his speech, the Great Depression was at its peak. People were also fearful about the upcoming future. Hence, in this phrase, the “fear” is a reference to the fear of the people concerning the economic depression of the country. Apart from that, Henry David Thoreau included this phrase, “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear” in his journal entry for September 7, 1851. So, Roosevelt might have alluded to this quote by Thoreau in his speech.

Historical Context of Nothing to fear but fear itself

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s close aide Raymond Moley, an American political economist, was responsible for crafting the first inauguration speech. He wrote many of Roosevelt’s speeches. However, through this speech and most importantly with this phrase, “nothing to fear but fear itself”, the President referred to the economic crisis that the nation was going through. In his speech, he held the bankers and businessmen responsible for the market crash of 1929. Moreover, he touched on daunting issues such as unemployment (which had reached a shocking 25 percent at that time), troublesome foreign relations, and the socio-economic crisis of the United States of America during the 1930s.

Notable Uses of Nothing to fear but fear itself

This phrase appears in several other works and speeches published or made after the 1933 inaugural address of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The phrase has been used in the following works:

• The title of “Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself), a song by Oingo Boingo on the 1982 album ‘Nothing to Fear’ , contains an allusion to the phrase.
• In “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1960) by Harper Lee, Scout says, “Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear, but fear itself.”
• “Nothing to Fear but Fear itself”, an episode of The Golden Girls television series.
• “Nothing to fear but Fear itself”, an episode of the Canadian television series Class of the Titans’

Similar Quotes

Here is a list of some popular quotes that are similar to Roosevelt’s rhetorically charged phrase, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson

How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! (…) To follow knowledge like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

Ode by Arthur O’Shaughnessy

We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; —

Good Timber by Douglas Malloch

Good timber does not grow with ease,      The stronger wind, the stronger trees, The further sky, the greater length,      The more the storm, the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow,      In trees and men good timbers grow.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

I am the master of my fate,       I am the captain of my soul.

You can read about 10 of the Best Poems About Darkness or 10 of the Best Poems about Hope here .

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Who Said, ‘We Have Nothing to Fear Except Fear Itself’?

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library , Dr Oliver Tearle examines the origins of a famous phrase

‘We have nothing to fear except fear itself.’ Those words – and the sentiment they convey – are inextricably bound up with Franklin D. Roosevelt. But what are the origins of the phrase ‘nothing to fear but fear itself’? Did Roosevelt originate it?

Let’s start with FDR. Certainly, at his 1933 Presidential Inauguration, Franklin D. Roosevelt did express such a sentiment:

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.

It’s a fine speech, and conveys a sentiment which will find an echo in many a bosom (indeed, has). The context in which Roosevelt made this speech was the Great Depression that the US was plunged into following the Wall Street crash of 1929, and the gist is that a ‘positive mental attitude’, as it were, will help to prevent the worst possible outcomes from materialising.

In the sixteenth century, the great French writer Michel de Montaigne (pictured right) – the man who pretty much invented a whole new genre, the essay – wrote: ‘the thing of which I have most fear is fear’. Although it depends on which translation you read. In another, the wording is slightly different: ‘The thing in the world I am most afraid of is fear, that passion alone, in the trouble of it, exceeding all other accidents.’

Then, in the seventeenth century, the English writer who brought Montaigne’s new invention of the essay form to England and made it his own, Francis Bacon, wrote in his 1623 book De Augmentis Scientiarum : ‘ Nil terribile nisi ipse timor ’, or ‘Nothing is terrible except fear itself.’

Then, in the nineteenth century and in yet another country, the United States, Henry David Thoreau offered in his journal entry for 7 September 1851: ‘Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.’ The context was an entry about atheism:

Miss Martineau’s last book is not so bad as the timidity which fears its influence. As if the popularity of this or that book would be so fatal – & man would not still be man in the world. Nothing is so much to be feared as fear – Atheism may be popular with God himself.

The book referred to was the British social theorist Harriet Martineau’s 1848 book Eastern Life , which put forward the idea that the world’s religions were evolving to become more and more abstract and that (she implied) the end-goal of society was a form of philosophic atheism.

In short, then, the sentiment of the statement ‘we have nothing to fear except fear itself’ originated with Montaigne in the sixteenth century, was probably picked up from Montaigne by Francis Bacon in the seventeenth, and then became a common proverb or axiom in later writers.

The fact that it has become closely associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt has much to do with Roosevelt’s reputation and influence over the world during the 1930s and 1940s; it may have helped that FDR was still ‘the leader of the Free World’ when the Allies went to war against the Axis powers in the Second World War. As war plunged the world into uncertainty, it was worth being reminded that fear itself can be the most powerful weapon our enemies have to disarm us and render us defeated before the fact. This later wartime context may have helped to give Roosevelt’s spin on an old statement a hand in helping it to become, without doubt, the most famous quotation associated with him and his presidency.

Image: via Wikimedia Commons .

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Montaigne got it from Seneca, Letter 24.12: “there is nothing to fear in your affairs but fear itself”

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Much Ado About Nothing - Act 4, scene 1

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Act 4, scene 1.

At the wedding, Claudio publicly denounces Hero as a lewd woman. He is supported in his story by Don Pedro and Don John. Hero faints and her accusers depart. The Friar believes in her innocence and proposes that Leonato announce that she has died. This news, the Friar thinks, will make Claudio remember his love for her. After the others depart, Benedick and Beatrice admit they love each other, and Benedick reluctantly agrees to challenge Claudio to a duel.

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No one , nobody , nothing , nowhere

No one , nobody , nothing and nowhere are indefinite pronouns.

We use no one, nobody, nothing and nowhere to refer to an absence of people, things or places. We use them with a singular verb:

Nobody ever goes to see her. She’s very lonely.

You usually have to wait for a long time. Nothing happens quickly.

There was nowhere to park the car.

We often use the plural pronoun they to refer back to (singular) no one or nobody when we do not know if the person is male or female:

No one remembers the titles of the books they’ve read.

No one and nobody mean the same. Nobody is a little less formal than no one . We use no one more than nobody in writing:

I knew nobody at the party.

No one moved; no one said anything.

We write no one as two separate words or with a hyphen: no one or no-one but not noone .

Nobody or not … anybody , etc.

Nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere are stronger and more definite than not … anybody/anyone/anything/anywhere :

I did nothing . (stronger than I didn’t do anything .)

She told no one , not even her mother. (stronger than She didn’t tell anyone … )

We don’t use not + anyone/anything/anywhere as the subject of a clause:

Nothing will make me change my mind.

Not: Not anything will make me change my mind .

We don’t use nobody , no one, nothing, nowhere after no , not , never or other words which have a negative meaning ( hardly , seldom ). We use anyone, anybody, anything, anywhere :

I ca n’t do anything .

Not: I can’t do nothing .

She talks to hardly anyone .

Not: She talks to hardly no one .

Anyone , anybody or anything ?

Double negatives and usage

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Trump keeps losing his train of thought. Cognitive experts have theories about why

By Olivia Goldhill Aug. 7, 2024

I n a speech earlier this year, former President Trump was mocking President Biden’s ability to walk through sand when he suddenly switched to talking about the old Hollywood icon Cary Grant.

“Somebody said he [Biden] looks great in a bathing suit, right? When he was in the sand and he was having a hard time lifting his feet through the sand, because you know, sand is heavy. They figure three solid ounces per foot. But sand is a little heavy. And he’s sitting in a bathing suit. Look, at 81, do you remember Cary Grant? How good was Cary Grant, right? I don’t think Cary Grant — he was good. I don’t know what happened to movie stars today,” he said at a March rally in Georgia. Trump went on to talk about contemporary actors, Michael Jackson, and border policies before returning to the theme of how Biden looks on the beach.

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This shifting from topic to topic, with few connections — a pattern of speech called tangentiality — is one of several disjointed and occasionally incoherent verbal habits that seem to have increased in Trump’s speech in recent years, according to interviews with experts in memory, psychology, and linguistics.

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‘Nothing is over!’ — The enduring legacy of that one scene in ‘First Blood’

By James Clark

Posted on Oct 1, 2020 10:56 PM EDT

7 minute read

Welcome to That One Scene , a semi-regular series in which Task & Purpose senior reporter James Clark waxes nostalgic about that one scene from a beloved movie.

According to Rambo, there is only one rule in war: Nothing is over! Nothing.

The first time movie-goers saw Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role was October 1982, when director Ted Kotcheff’s First Blood blasted its way onto the big screen. Rambo is often the first character that comes to mind when someone says ’80s action hero: All rippling abs, sparse dialogue, and outrageous hip-fire accuracy with a belt-fed light machine gun. He is, for all intents and purposes, a caricature, a cartoonish superhuman warrior designed to kick ass and take names.

But the John Rambo of  First Blood is a far cry from the plethora of emotionless and shredded heroes in the action flicks of that era. In fact, he’s wildly different from the increasingly bulgy-muscled Rambos who appear in the franchise’s sequels. The John Rambo in First Blood is — in brief moments and during very specific scenes — relatable, believable, and real. That is especially true during the film’s climactic ending:

Based on a 1972 novel of the same name by David Morrell, First Blood follows Rambo, a decorated Special Forces veteran who served in Vietnam and survived capture as a prisoner of war. The film picks up with Rambo back in the states, seeking out his old war buddies only to find most have moved on or passed away.

From the start, Rambo is a man untethered from civilian life, one who’s become so used to the jungles of Vietnam and the deadly order and tightly controlled chaos of war-time service that he no longer fits into polite society — or more accurately, he’s no longer welcome. Where once he led men into battle, was responsible for expensive government-issue hardware, and entrusted with life or death decisions, these days he can’t even find work doing the most menial of tasks.

After Rambo makes his way to the small backwoods town of Hope, Washington, he’s immediately accosted by local sheriff Will Teasle. This encounter sets off a cycle of violence that sees cops killed, the National Guard called in for a massive manhunt, and Rambo tracked down like a rabid dog before it all ends in a showdown at the town’s police station. Surrounded by heavily armed cops and soldiers — led by his former commander, Col. Sam Trautman (played by Richard Crenna) — Rambo is at his end.

When Trautman confronts him and tells his former subordinate and protégé that it’s done, that his fight is over, Rambo launches into one of the most iconic monologues in action-movie history, and one of Stallone’s most moving performances:

Trautman : You did everything to make this private war happen. You’ve done enough damage. This mission is over, Rambo. Do you understand me? This mission is over! Look at them out there! Look at them! If you won’t end this now, they will kill you. Is that what you want? It’s over Johnny. It’s over! Rambo : Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don’t turn it off! It wasn’t my war! You asked me, I didn’t ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn’t let us win! And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me baby killer and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me, huh? Who are they? Unless they’ve been me and been there and know what the hell they’re yelling about! Trautman : It was a bad time for everyone, Rambo. It’s all in the past now. Rambo : For you! For me civilian life is nothing! In the field we had a code of honor, you watch my back, I watch yours. Back here there’s nothing! Trautman : You’re the last of an elite group, don’t end it like this. Rambo : Back there I could fly a gunship, I could drive a tank, I was in charge of million dollar equipment, back here I can’t even hold a job parking cars!

The scene, from Rambo’s heartfelt agony over what he sees as a betrayal by the country that sent him to war, then lost the will to see it through, to his disdain and contempt for the “civilian world,” leaves behind a complicated legacy that remains relevant to this day.

On the one hand, the monologue — and much of First Blood — feeds into the stereotype of the damaged veteran, the warrior who comes home more killing machine than man. The trope of the “dangerous vet” has been trotted out again and again in headlines , by politicians on the campaign trail , and by those in office .

On the other hand, the scene candidly touches on the guilt, isolation, and loss of self that some carry with them after they’ve hung up their uniforms and tried to move on. One of the most significant parts of the monologue is actually one of the most overlooked — whether that’s due to Rambo’s iconic “Nothing is over” line, or Stallone’s (at times) unintelligible mumble, is unclear.

Still inside the police station, Rambo recounts a story of his friend who was maimed and killed by a suicide bomber at a bar in Saigon. “I can’t get it out of my head,” Rambo says through sobs. “A dream of seven years. Every day I have this. And sometimes I wake up and I don’t know where I am. I don’t talk to anybody. Sometimes a day, a week. I can’t put it out of my mind.”

The lingering guilt, the isolation, it feels real. And it’s surprisingly prescient.

In 1982, in the final moments of a film that arguably gave movie-goers their first action hero, here’s the star alluding to moral injury , transition stress , post-traumatic stress — long before some of those terms had even made their way into medical journals, let alone America’s lexicon. For some context, post-traumatic stress disorder was formally acknowledged by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980, just two years before the film’s release, and eight years after the original book was published.

When the film debuted, you could consider its acknowledgment of the costs of war a step in the right direction toward a national discussion, but over time, that legacy has changed.

Instead of Rambo being an outlier — a dramatization illustrating what could be — he became the example for what happens after war ; a caricature that has been repeatedly superimposed on the military and veterans community since.

A 2016 survey found that 40 percent of respondents from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom believed that half of all post-9/11 veterans suffered from mental health disorders of one kind or another, despite the numbers being far lower — between 10 and 20 percent.  

There are perceptions that veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder — which is a specific condition not inherently tied to combat and has been used as a catchall when discussing mental health among vets and military personnel — is linked to violence, even though the facts don’t support that . It’s an oversimplification that ignores a range of factors, from the age of perpetrators, substance abuse, and whether they suffer from comorbid mental health disorders.

These assumptions also ignore the fact that the vast majority of the 2.7 million Americans who have deployed overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001 — more than half of whom deployed more than once — returned home to live quiet and constructive lives, and don’t wander into small towns and set off on a violent rampage.

This is the fundamental irony of that one scene in Rambo .

It had the opportunity to start a dialogue but instead left behind a damaging legacy. Rather than seeing the violence of war, and a disaffected or disinterested society as the cause for those feelings of resentment and isolation, Rambo, and by extension, veterans came to be associated with those injuries.

It’s like we’ve missed the kernel of truth buried within that iconic speech.

Nothing is over, not the losses suffered, not the hardships endured, not war. But neither is the road forward, neither is the conversation about what comes next , what can we do better. That should be Rambo’s legacy.

RELATED: The lingering appeal of Col Jessup’s courtroom tirade in ‘A Few Good Men’

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StageMilk / Monologues Unpacked / Beatrice Monologue: Much Ado About Nothing Act 4 Scene 1

Beatrice Monologue: Much Ado About Nothing Act 4 Scene 1

Ladies and Gentlemen: please fasten your seatbelts, stow your tray tables and put your seats in the upright position, as we are experiencing some unexpected turbulence. We are right at the climax of the play Much Ado About Nothing . All the plots, emotions and misunderstandings are coming to a head and reacting to one another like a match to a stick of dynamite—and who better to meet this explosive moment than Beatrice, one of Shakespeare’s most fiery, quick-witted and passionate characters.

Updated 17th January, 2022.

NB: This monologue is a combination of several of Beatrice’s lines in a larger scene. This text does not appear as a monologue in the original text, though it works fine as a monologue; Beatrice is so full of rage that she is most likely speaking over Benedick’s lines anyway!

A lot of factors have contributed to this moment where Beatrice and Benedick find themselves alone, and she asks him to right the wrongs done by Claudio. We have just come from the failed wedding of Hero and Claudio: two characters who should’ve lived happily ever after were it not for the scheming of the villain Don John. Don John laid a plot to upset the merriment of those around him. He planted a seed of suspicion in Claudio’s mind and spun a spider’s web of deceit to make Claudio think that Hero is unfaithful. Claudio waits until they are literally at the altar to publicly humiliate and accuse Hero, causing her to faint. The men associated with Claudio and Don John’s plot storm out of the church, leaving Hero for dead. 

Benedick, being more concerned with his love for Beatrice than his friendship with Claudio, supports and comforts Beatrice after this terrible scene. These two have had plots of a different sort laid against them—with their friends tricking the both of them and making one fall in love with the other. Right before Beatrice’s speech, the two confess their undying love to each other. It is a moment of passion and contains all the fireworks of love! Benedick says he would do anything in the world for  her, and tells her to bid him do it. Beatrice tells him one request: kill Claudio—the man who wronged her innocent friend, Hero. She asks him to put aside his friendship with the man and prove that he stands for something good and true…

Original Text

Kill Claudio! You kill me to deny it. Farewell. I am gone, though I am here: there is no love in you: nay, I pray you, let me go. In faith, I will go. You dare easier be friends with me than fight with my enemy. Is Claudio not approved in the height a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman? O that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands ; and then, with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancour, – O, God that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the market-place. Talk with a man out at window! A proper saying! Sweet Hero! She is wronged, she is slandered, she is undone. Princes and counties! Surely, a princely testimony, a goodly count, Count Comfect; a sweet gallant surely! O that I were a man for his sake! Or that I had any friend would be a man for my sake! But manhood is melted into courtesies, valour into compliment, and men are only turned into tongue, and trim ones too : he is now as valiant as Hercules that only tells a lie and swears it. I cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving.

Unfamiliar Language

As always, let’s start by looking at any unfamiliar words or phrases in the above text. It is of paramount importance that you understand the language; this will help Beatrice’s plea to Benedick to be all the more convincing.

Slandered : Damaging someone’s reputation with falsehoods.

Scorned : An expression of contempt or disdain for someone or something.

Kinswoman : A woman who is one of a person’s blood relations.

Bear her in hand : Of Claudio—to pretend everything is fine and keep Hero in the dark until they are at the altar.

Rancour : Bitterness/ resentfulness.

Talk with a man out at window : One of Claudio’s accusations is that Hero was seen speaking with another man out her window; proof of her unfaithfulness.

Comfect : Sugarplum, a sweet-thing.

Hercules : An illegitimate son of Zeus from Greek Mythology, known for his inhuman strength.

Modern Translation

You would do anything for me? Fine, then: kill Claudio. No? Then you kill me instead by saying no. My heart has left the building but my body remains. You don’t really love me: no, let me go. I swear, I’m leaving right now. You dare try to be friends with me when you refuse to fight my enemy? Has it not been proved that Claudio is a villain and he has shamed, defamed and slandered Hero my friend? Oh I wish I was a man! What – wait until they are holding hands at the altar to publicly shame her with pure hatred? Oh God I wish I was a man! If I was, I would rip his heart out and eat it in front of a crowd of people. “She was talking with a man outside her window?” That sounds likely! Sweet hero! She has been wronged, she has been falsely accused. She has been ruined. Princes and Counts. He’s a real count, a good count, count sweet sugar-plumb. A Gentleman surely! Oh I wish I was a man. Or I wish I had a friend who would be a man for me! But there are no men left. Their manliness has melted into courtesies, valour into pleasantries. Now men are all talk. A man is now as valiant as Hercules if he tells a lie but swears by it! I cannot wish myself into becoming a man, therefore I will die a woman with grieving.

Performance Notes

This speech requires a climactic performance from the actor. The play begs for it. Just as the dramatic tension of the play’s arc has been building to this moment, think about how a similar arc should play out in the speech itself: it really encapsulates the ‘boiling over’ of all the factors mentioned, including tensions that have existed far before the beginning of the play. Beatrice feels so confined by her gender at this moment. As a woman in this time, she is not afforded the same freedom as the men around her—who can happily go about doing the very things her cousin Hero has been vilified for (and is totally innocent of).

There are so many obstacles for her, which the actor can be energised by: the injustice of what has happened to Hero, the constraints placed upon Beatrice because of her gender, and the stubborn inaction and cowardice of Benedick—not to mention that they have both just told each other that they deeply love each other for the first time. 

And while this is a monologue compiled from a scene, it’s important to take into consideration the moments right before Beatrice says ‘Kill Claudio’. Beatrice has to contend with her new-found love as well as everything else that is going on; in her mind, Benedick’s unwillingness to kill Claudio is proof of the fact that he doesn’t really reciprocate her feelings. She is emotionally vulnerable, and mistrusting of any bold declarations after witnessing the humiliation of Hero at the altar.

In this speech, focus on release rather than force . When we approach this speech with force, we risk it becoming a two dimensional venting of anger and hatred (which it is), but without colour and variety in performance. When we focus on release , we are able to allow a large number of different manifestations, including grief and anger. Instead of just shouting this whole speech, allow for laughter, whispering, wailing, crying, shouting, being direct and being scattered: plot your actions thoroughly. If you are familiar with the movement principles of Laban, this speech done well is a combination of many different qualities (light/strong, direct/indirect, quick/ sustained) rather than just ‘punching’ repeatedly. 

Finally, enjoy this chance to vent through Beatrice! This speech really requires the actor to ‘go there’: to feel all that Beatrice is feeling and to allow it to boil over. Great freedom is required from the actor to make this speech diverse and captivating for the audience, so prioritise relaxation and release over tension and force. Focus on the targets around you: the foppish Benedick, the cruel Claudio, the Patriarchy, and gather her energy from there. This is not an insular speech, but an outward declaration and cry for freedom. It is epic. 

For more explosive Beatrice action:  Check out her speech in Act 3 , where she overhears Benedick’s supposed love of her and catches some serious feelings.

About the Author

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Part of speech of 'nothing'

Consider the below sentence.

Nothing is as painful as what he went through.

What part of speech does 'nothing' belong to? Traditionally, it is analysed as a pronoun, but I am not too convinced by this analysis: for instance, whereas 'nothing' can be followed by a modifier (as in Thus far he has suggested nothing helpful ), pronouns are very limited in both the type and range of modifiers that they allow. The pronoun She in the sentence She was denied access cannot be modified by a pre-head modifier ( Young she was denied access is not grammatical), nor can it be modified by a post-head modifier (apart from a relative clause, though She who committed the crime was denied access does sound very archaic).

• parts-of-speech

• 3 "Nothing" is an indefinite pronoun . What do you mean by "pronouns are very limited in both the type and range of modifiers that they allow", and how does it apply to this context? Please edit your question to clarify –  gotube ♦ Commented Jul 10, 2022 at 15:23
• 2 It's actually a compound determinative (see my answer). You are right that it can take special post-head dependents (called 'restrictors') as in nothing sensible will come of this . –  BillJ Commented Jul 10, 2022 at 16:56
• 1 In "nothing is as painful as x", nothing is a subject, otherwise there would be no sentence. –  Lambie Commented Jul 10, 2022 at 17:04
• 1 @gotube See BillJ's answer. –  Araucaria - Not here any more. Commented Jul 10, 2022 at 23:03
• 1 @Eric You are right not to be convinced. It's true that "nothing" is tradionally analysed as a pronoun. It shares with pronouns the property that it always functions as head in NP structure, but it differs from pronouns in that it can freely take post-head modifiers, as in the example I gave above. –  BillJ Commented Jul 11, 2022 at 7:26

3 Answers 3

"Nothing" belongs solely to the word class (part of speech) determinative; more specifically it's a compound determinative.

It functions as determiner-head, with the syntactic fusion of the two functions marked by the morphological compounding of a determinative base "no" with a nominal one "thing".

It's true that "nothing" is tradionally analysed as a pronoun. It shares with pronouns the property that it always functions as head in NP structure, but it differs from a pronoun in that it can freely take post-head modifiers, as in "Nothing sensible will come of this".

• 3 Oxford Dictionary via Google: GRAMMAR a modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun or noun group has, for example a, the, every. That is not what nothing is here. –  Lambie Commented Jul 10, 2022 at 16:57
• 4 @Lambie Oxford publish grammars of English and also dictionaries. It's best to go to the grammars for grammar. Oxford Modern English Grammar gives the part of speech as determiner. (=determinative here). –  Araucaria - Not here any more. Commented Jul 10, 2022 at 23:34

Grammarians and lexicologists often differ on how they categorize words into "parts of speech", so you'll get different answers to this question. (In fact, you already have!) If you'd like to analyze "nothing" as a pronoun, then feel free to do so. Those who take that approach allow some indefinite pronouns (unlike most other pronouns) to be followed by modifiers (including adjectives). For example:

Something extraordinary is happening. Do you have anybody special in mind? Everyone interested should sign up immediately.

You may be interested in tchrist's recent discussion of this on EL&U .

Nothing is sacred. Subject: nothing Verb: is Predicate: is sacred.

If nothing were not a noun there, there would be no sentence.

nothing there is a noun.

Nothing mattered to her.

Merriam Webster_nothing

The word nothing can be: a pronoun, noun, adverb and adjective.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged parts-of-speech ..

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Much Ado About Nothing

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Kamala Harris Isn’t Giving Interviews. Any Questions?

Critics say the vice president has been too cautious with the press. Her supporters think it’s the right strategy at the right time.

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By Michael M. Grynbaum

Michael Grynbaum has covered the interactions between presidential candidates and the news media since 2016.

Follow live updates on the 2024 election .

The press has questions for Vice President Kamala Harris. She isn’t giving a whole lot of answers.

In the nearly three weeks since President Biden withdrew his candidacy, catapulting Ms. Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket, the vice president has shown little eagerness to meet journalists in unscripted settings. She has not granted an interview or held a news conference. On Thursday, after a rally in Michigan, she held her first “gaggle” — an impromptu Q.-and-A. session — with reporters covering her campaign.

It lasted 70 seconds.

Ms. Harris replaced a Democratic nominee who has hosted fewer White House news conferences than any president since Ronald Reagan. Now she is taking a similarly cautious approach, relying on televised rallies and prepared statements amid a tightly controlled rollout of her candidacy.

Asked on Thursday if she might sit for an interview anytime soon, Ms. Harris suggested that she would get through the convention first. “I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month,” she said, as aides signaled to the scrum of journalists that question time was over.

Ms. Harris’s lack of engagement with the media has become a constant rallying cry on the political right, with Republican critics and Fox News stars accusing the vice president of ducking scrutiny. The Harris campaign says it is being thoughtful about how best to deploy its message, and to introduce a new candidate to crucial voters in battleground states.

David Axelrod, the architect of former President Barack Obama’s winning campaigns, believes that Ms. Harris — who on Thursday said she had agreed to a prime-time debate on Sept. 10 with her opponent, former President Donald J. Trump — was trying to strike a balance.

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Trump's North Carolina speech went predictably off the rails. Can he even spell 'economy'?

Of course no intellectual presidential campaign speech on the economy is complete without an extended riff on immigrants and rape..

Former president and self-described stable genius Donald Trump let a small crowd in a small venue in North Carolina know what was in store for them Wednesday : “We’re talking about a thing called the economy.”

Ah, yes. That thing called the economy. I’ve heard of it.

He continued : “We’re doing this as an intellectual speech.”

Good. Many Republicans have encouraged Trump to stop babbling and hurling insults and steer his campaign onto some kind of coherent message.

Trump's economic speech went off the rails predictably fast

“ You’re all intellectuals today ,” Trump said at the 2,400-seat Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville . “Today we’re doing it and we’re doing it right now and it’s very important. They say it’s the most important subject. I think crime is right there, I think the border is right there, personally.

"We have a lot of important subjects because our country has become a third-world nation, we literally are a third-world nation. We’re a banana republic in so many ways, and we’re not going to let that happen because we’re starting a free fall.”

Trump's campaign spiral continues: Trump rambles, slurs his way through Elon Musk interview. It was an unmitigated disaster.

Hoo boy. Trump spends less time on track than a decommissioned train car. And so it was that his highly intellectual speech on a thing called the economy became, predictably, a dumb speech on a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with the economy.

Like making fun of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ laugh .

Trump proves again in North Carolina that insults are all he has

“For nearly four years Kamala has crackled as the American economy has burned,” Trump said , presumably mispronouncing “cackled,” because he struggles with words.

“What happened to her laugh? I haven’t heard that laugh in about a week. That’s why they keep her off the stage, that’s why she has disappeared.”

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have been barnstorming states lately, doing far more events than Trump and drawing crowds significantly larger than the one that showed up Wednesday to hear him occasionally reference the economy.

 “That’s the laugh of a crazy person, I will tell you,” Trump droned on . “She’s crazy.”

Labeling Harris crazy and mocking the way she laughs is the kind of thing Republicans keep advising Trump not to do. But he couldn’t help himself, later calling Harris an “incompetent socialist lunatic.”

'Kamabla'? Trump isn't just losing the election, he's losing his mind.

Trump's understanding of how the economy works seems dodgy at best

When he did deign to talk about the economy, Trump said things like this, referencing the brief stock market drop of last week, something he had labeled the “KAMALA CRASH!!!” :

“ Many people say the only reason the stock market is up is because people think I’m going to win, did you ever hear that? But there was one day a couple weeks ago when they weren’t thinking that.” 

OK, first off, nobody thinks Trump has anything to do with the stock market being up. And then to think last week’s drop – from which the market quickly recovered – happened due to a brief belief that Harris might win the election? That makes me wonder if Trump can even spell “economy.”

An economic speech about ... rape?

Of course, no intellectual presidential campaign speech on the economy is complete without an extended riff on immigrants and rape , so Trump said: “Rape and murder, rape and beatings, rape and something else, and sometimes just immediate killing. These people are brutal. These are people that came out of the toughest jails anywhere in the world from all over the world, and we can’t take them.”

Migrants commit crimes at far lower rates than U.S. citizens , but, you know … THE ECONOMY!

Speaking of the economy, while Trump was occasionally mentioning the word – providing no concrete policy proposals other than specious claims he will singlehandedly fix everything – the U.S. inflation rate hit its lowest point in three years . 

The economy is simply not the disaster Trump and the GOP claim

And that gets to the heart of one of Trump’s biggest problems. The economy is doing reasonably well. Unemployment is low, the stock market has been breaking records and inflation continues to drop.

Back in April, Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi told CNBC : “The U.S. economy is leading the way for the global economy. It’s driving the global economic train.”

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store .

So, calling America a third-world country while taking childish swipes at the vice president’s laugh and fearmongering about an immigrant crime wave that doesn’t exist? That’s not going to do much to swing voters who have been swinging in Harris’ direction since she took over the top of the Democratic ticket less than a month ago.

Republicans have been frustrated with the Trump campaign , and they know he needs to show voters something that will help him regain footing. His intellectual speech on that thing called the economy didn’t show anyone anything.

It was just another stumble from an aging candidate who can’t see that his schtick has gotten old.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter,  @RexHuppke  and Facebook  facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page , on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter .

“You Should Kill Yourself Now” rant

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The popular streamer and YouTuber, LowTierGod, vents his anger at a stream sniper, telling them to either suck on his penis or kill themselves (Now).

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