Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel vs Soren Kierkegaard on Knowledge

“The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.”

Only one word more concerning the desire to teach the world what it ought to be. For such a purpose philosophy at least always comes too late. Philosophy, as the thought of the world, does not appear until reality has completed its formative process, and made itself ready. History thus corroborates the teaching of the conception that only in the maturity of reality does the ideal appear as counter

“We learn from history that we do not learn from history.”

What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.

“Reading the morning newspaper is the realist's morning prayer.”

Miscellaneous writings of G.W.F. Hegel , translation by Jon Bartley Stewart, Northwestern University Press, 2002, page 247.

“An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking.”

Jede Vorstellung ist eine Verallgemeinerung, und diese gehört dem Denken an. Etwas allgemein machen, heißt, es denken. ("Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts oder Naturrecht und Staatswissenschaft im Grundrisse", Berlin, 1833, p. 35)

“To be aware of limitations is already to be beyond them.”

As quoted in Inwardness and Existence (1989) by Walter A. Davis, p. 18

“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.

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought , they demand freedom of speech .

“Journals of Søren Kierkegaard 1A 8, 1834”

The reason I cannot really say that I positively enjoy nature is that I do not quite realize what it is that I enjoy. A work of art, on the other hand, I can grasp. I can — if I may put it this way — find that Archimedian point, and as soon as I have found it, everything is readily clear for me. Then I am able to pursue this one main idea and see how all the details serve to illuminate it.

“Journals 1A 68 (29 July 1835)”

In order to learn true humility (I use this expression to describe the state of mind under discussion), it is good for a person to withdraw from the turmoil of the world (we see that Christ withdrew when the people wanted to proclaim him king as well as when he had to walk the thorny path), for in life either the depressing or the elevating impression is too dominant for a true balance to come abo

“Journal entry, August 1, 1835”

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?