Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.
In plain words
Scary things get less scary once you understand them.
Where these words come from
- 42% sureLots of sources credit Marie Curie with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
- French original ("On ne doit rien craindre dans la vie, il suffit de comprendre") appears posthumously in Laval medical (1951); the commonly-appended second sentence is Glenn Seaborg's own 1968 addition, not Curie's. No primary Curie letter/manuscript located.
