1001Philosophers

Friedrich Nietzsche vs Soren Kierkegaard on Life

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche each insist that what matters in philosophy is the life of the existing individual, not the construction of systems. They diverge sharply on what such a life requires. Kierkegaard locates the deepest seriousness in the leap of faith — a personal commitment before God that no system can ground — while Nietzsche locates it in self-overcoming and the affirmation of life without religious consolation.

About this topic

The question of what makes a life worth living runs through almost every philosophical tradition. Ancient philosophers identified the good life with virtue, contemplation, or the absence of disturbance; medieval thinkers tied it to the love of God and the order of creation; modern philosophers have located meaning in autonomy, projects, relationships, or self-creation. The quotes collected here range across all these strands, from Stoic counsels of resilience to existentialist treatments of meaning under conditions of uncertainty.

For a side-by-side overview of the two philosophers more broadly, see the full Friedrich Nietzsche vs Soren Kierkegaard comparison. To browse philosophy more widely on this theme, see the Life quotes hub.

Representative quotes on life

Friedrich Nietzsche on life

  • “I now myself live, in every detail, striving for wisdom, while I formerly merely worshipped and idolized the wise.”

    Letter to Mathilde Mayer, July 16, 1878, cited in Karl Jaspers , Nietzsche (Baltimore: 1997), p. 46

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “What does not kill me makes me stronger.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”

All 7 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes on life →

Soren Kierkegaard on life

  • “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

    Det er ganske sandt, hvad Philosophien siger, at Livet maa forstaaes baglænds. Men derover glemmer man den anden Sætning, at det maa leves forlænds.

  • “It will be easy for us once we receive the ball of yarn from Ariadne (love) and then go through all the mazes of the labyrinth (life) and kill the monster. But how many are there who plunge into life (the labyrinth) without taking that precaution?”

    Journal entry, August 1, 1835

  • “Variant translation: My focus should be on what I do in life, not knowing everything, excluding knowledge on what you do. The is key to find a purpose, whatever it truly is that God wills me to do; it's crucial to find a truth which is true to me, to find the idea which I am willing to live and die for.”

    What I really need is to get clear about what I must do, not what I must know, except insofar as knowledge must precede every act. What matters is to find a purpose, to see what it really is that God wills that I shall do; the crucial thing is to find a truth which is truth for me, to find the idea for which I am willing to live and die.

  • Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:

    “The most common form of despair is not being who you are.”

  • Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:

    “To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”

All 7 Soren Kierkegaard quotes on life →

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