Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.Journals IV A 164, 1843
Author · 19 quotes
Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and writer, known as the "father of existentialism." He is esteemed for his profound and complex writings that explored themes of individuality, faith, and human experience, influencing numerous fields of thought including philosophy, psychology, and literature. Kierkegaard's works such as "Fear and Trembling" and "Either/Or" remain influential in contemporary philosophical discourse.
1813–1855·lived 42 years
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.Journals IV A 164, 1843
Now, with God's help, I shall become myself.
Life can only be understood going backward, but must be lived going forward.
Above all, do not lose your desire to walk.
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.Either/Or, 1843
What if everything in the world were a misunderstanding, what if laughter were really tears?The Sickness Unto Death, 1849
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.Fear and Trembling, 1843
Old age realizes the dreams of youth: look at Dean Swift; in his youth he built an asylum for the insane, in his old age he was himself an inmate.The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard, 1849
Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day, I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.Letter to Jette, 1847
Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.Fear and Trembling, 1843
Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown.Journal Entry - 1835
Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.An Occasional Discourse: On the Occasion of a Confession, Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing
What is a poet? An unhappy person who conceals profound anguish in his heart but whose lips are so formed that as sighs and cries pass over them they sound like beautiful music.Either/Or, 1843
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.Living Thoughts of Kierkegaard, 2002
Once you label me you negate me.
Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I'll kiss you for it. To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's.Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, 1846
Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived.Soren Kierkegaard - Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced - AS USA
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.
The most common form of despair is not being who you are.The Sickness Unto Death, p. 15, 1849
That’s all 19 quotes by Søren Kierkegaard.