Inspirational Quotes by Soren Kierkegaard
“This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot think.”
“Do not believe that you alone can be right. The man who thinks that, The man who maintains that only he has the power To reason correctly, the gift to speak, the soul— A man like that, when you know him, turns out empty.”
“Only the person who is essentially capable of remaining silent is capable of speaking essentially.”
“When you were called, did you answer or did you not? Perhaps softly and in a whisper?”
“I once knew of a girl whose story forms the substance of the diary. Whether he has seduced others I do not know... we learn of his desire for something altogether arbitrary. With the help of his mental gifts he knew how to tempt a girl to draw her to him without caring to possess her in any stricter sense. ”
― Soren Kierkegaard ,
from The Seducer's Diary
topics: seduction
“With respect to love we speak continually about perfection and the perfect person. With respect to love Christianity also speaks continually about perfection and the perfect person. Alas, but we men talk about finding the perfect person in order to love him. Christianity speaks about being the perfect person who limitlessly loves the person he sees.”
― Soren Kierkegaard ,
from Works of Love
“I stick my finger in existence — it smells of nothing. Where am I? Who am I? How came I here? What is this thing called the world? What does this world mean? Who is it that has lured me into the world? Why was I not consulted, why not made acquainted with its manners and customs instead of throwing me into the ranks, as if I had been bought by a kidnapper, a dealer in souls? How did I obtain an interest in this big enterprise they call reality? Why should I have an interest in it? Is it not a voluntary concern? And if I am to be compelled to take part in it, where is the director? I should like to make a remark to him. Is there no director? Whither shall I turn with my complaint?”
“My time I divide as follows: the one half I sleep; the other half I dream. I never dream when I sleep; that would be a shame, because to sleep is the height of genius.”
“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. ”
“من زمانم را این گونه قسمت کرده ام: نیمش را می خوابم، و در نیمه دیگر رؤیا می بینم. حیف است که آدم در خواب رؤیا ببیند.”
topics: dreaming
“...even the richest personality is nothing before he has chosen himself, and on the other hand even what one might call the poorest personality is everything when he has chosen himself; for the great thing is not to be this or that but to be oneself, and this everyone can be if he wills it.”
“شایع ترین نوع نومیدی آن است که فرد نخواهد خودش باشد.”
― Soren Kierkegaard ,
from The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and Awakening
topics: despair
“You train yourself in the art of being mysterious to everyone. My dear friend! What if there were no one, who cared about guessing your riddle, what pleasure would you then take in it?”
“I would rather be a swineherd, understood by the swine, than a poet misunderstood by men.”
“Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living.”
topics: life
“Thus our own age is essentially one of understanding, and on the average, perhaps, more knowledgeable than any former generation, but it is without passion. Every one knows a great deal, we all know which way we ought to go and all the different ways we can go, but nobody is willing to move.”
― Soren Kierkegaard ,
from The Present Age
“Far from idleness being the root of all evil, it is rather the only true good.”
topics: life
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Kierkegaard left the task of discovering the meaning of his works to the reader, because "the task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted". Scholars have interpreted Kierkegaard variously as an existentialist, neo-orthodoxist, postmodernist, humanist, and individualist.
Crossing the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, he is an influential figure in contemporary thought.