Soren Kierkegaard Quotes
Soren Kierkegaard was a 19th-century Danish philosopher, theologian, and religious author, widely regarded as the first existentialist thinker. His pseudonymous works, including Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, and The Sickness Unto Death, dramatize the inner life of the individual confronted with anxiety, despair, freedom, and faith. The quotes below are attributed to Soren Kierkegaard, organized by topic.
Soren Kierkegaard on Freedom
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“Once you label me, you negate me.”
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
Soren Kierkegaard on God
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“Faith is the highest passion in a human being.”
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
Soren Kierkegaard on Life
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Soren Kierkegaard on Mind
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.”
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“The most common form of despair is not being who you are.”
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.”
Soren Kierkegaard on Truth
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“Truth always rests with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion.”
Soren Kierkegaard on Virtue
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“Purity of heart is to will one thing.”
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Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:
“Boredom is the root of all evil.”