100+ Inspirational Soren Kierkegaard Quotes to Ignite Your Mind

Engaging with the profound thoughts of Soren Kierkegaard can be both an enlightening and challenging journey. Known as one of the founding figures of existential philosophy, Kierkegaard's work delves deep into themes of existence, individuality, and faith. This article explores 10 facets of Kierkegaard's philosophy, providing insightful quotes under each subtitle to give readers a glimpse into his complex yet intriguing mind. By organizing these quotes under thematic subtitles, this article aims to unravel the depth of Kierkegaard's ideas and how they still resonate in today's world.

Existential Reflective Quotes

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

"Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom."

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

"Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are."

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

"The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins."

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced."

"Once you label me you negate me."

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

"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays."

"Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself."

"Leap, and the net will appear."

Faith and Belief Quotes

"Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further."

"Without risk, faith is an impossibility."

"Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays."

"Faith begins precisely where thinking leaves off."

"The paradox of faith lies in involving an objective uncertainty held steadfastly in passionate inwardness."

"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know."

"Faith sees best in the dark."

"Faith is the highest expression of madness."

"To have faith is precisely to lose one's mind, so as to win God."

"It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey."

"Faith does not begin a man; it is a new birth within him."

"Faith is the contradiction between the infinite passion of inwardness and objective uncertainty."

Individuality Quotes

"The crowd is untruth."

"If anyone on the verge of action should judge himself according to the outcome, he would never begin."

"Above all, do not lose your desire to walk."

"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner."

"Don't forget to love yourself."

"Do it or don’t do it – you will regret both."

"The thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die."

"Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth - look at the dying man's struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment."

"Freedom is found only in the realm of subjectivity."

"The self is the consciousness of oneself."

"The individual who prays communes with himself and with God."

"One must avoid truths that are not one’s own responsibility."

Existential Angst Quotes

"Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate."

"Hope is a passion for the possible."

"Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown."

"Anguish is the possibility of freedom."

"Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts."

"Take the leap of faith; the barrier of possibility evaporates."

"Despair can never be over-come by luck."

"One sees differently at night than they do in the daylight."

"A man who as a physical being is always turned toward the outside, thinking that his happiness lies outside him, finally turns inward and discovers that the source is within him."

"To not think about time but rather to feel it passing."

"The greatest unhappiness comes from being unable to be ourselves."

"Ultimately, the only definitive relationship is with oneself because in solitary existence we plunge into the possibility of everything."

Love and Relationships Quotes

"The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived."

"It is not where we breathe, but where we love, that we live."

"Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself."

"To cheat oneself out of love is the most terrible deception; it is an eternal loss."

"The door to happiness always opens toward the outside; one must step outside oneself."

"One who loves without risk loves without gain."

"The more secretive love is, the more powerful it is."

"Love is all, it gives all, and it takes all."

"Love is a work of art as it is constituted by two creatures."

"When one loves, what one loves is not one’s possession, but oneself."

"Love is self-communication."

"The best servant does his work unseen."

Truth and Understanding Quotes

"Subjectivity is truth."

"The truth shall set you free, but first, it will make you miserable."

"The task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted."

"People understand me so poorly that they don't even understand my complaint about them not understanding me."

"Perhaps one day we will understand better that we will never understand fully."

"Truth exists for the individual only as he produces it in action."

"The understanding grasps the paradoxes but only the spirit embraces the absurdity."

"The deepest form of misunderstanding is that rooted in principal ideas."

"Wisdom is the most important thing; therefore by all means gain wisdom."

"Doubt is conquered by faith."

"You can't understand life without love."

"Understanding comes from within, not from without."

Paradox and Contradiction Quotes

"We live forward, but we understand backward."

"The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you'll never have."

"The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins."

"The thinker without a paradox is like a lover without a feeling."

"What looks like politics, and imagines itself to be political, will one day unmask itself as a religious movement."

"The greatest hazard of all – losing oneself – can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all."

"Truth is a snare: you cannot have it without being caught."

"To believe is to venture the impossible, to trust in spite of paradox."

"In order to swim one takes off all one's clothes – in order to aspire to the truth one must undress in a far different sense, inwardly strip oneself of all one's inward possessions, which are barriers to the truth."

"One must not think of oneself as one ought to, but be oneself as one must become."

"If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe."

"It is the duty of the human understanding to understand that there are things which it cannot understand, and what those things are."

Choice and Decision Quotes

"Choice itself is the most controversial act of an individual."

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

"The more decisions we make, the more respect we have for our own freedom."

"Without risk, a choice is not a choice."

"In choosing we forget the alternatives that were bypassed."

"We should not create ourselves. We should choose to create our own self."

"The freedom of choice is the freedom of battling against destiny."

"The more you limit your options, the easier it is to make a choice."

"Freedom consists of choosing; by choosing, we don’t escape from responsibility but engage with it."

"In making a big decision we must make an analysis as to whether it will change our lives for the better."

"A path is made by walking."

"The irony of choice: All is possible precisely because all is impossible."

Philosophical Insights Quotes

"Philosophy is life's nostalgia."

"Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living."

"The ultimate goal of philosophy is to discover the good life."

"Philosophy without religion is empty; religion without philosophy is blind."

"Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts."

"With our backward understanding of life, philosophy becomes an instrument in achieving it."

"Acceptance is the key to finding peace amid life's contradictions."

"Introspection is the beginning of philosophy."

"One can live in the world without philosophy but not live in the world as a philosopher."

"Philosophy is the womb of those with a longing for understanding."

"What is essential is invisible to the eye; the heart feels it through philosophical inquiry."

"To know yourself is the beginning of philosophical wisdom."

Existence and Being Quotes

"Man is the synthesis of the infinite and the finite."

"The self is the reflection which knows itself."

"To exist is fundamentally to create essence."

"Existence precedes essence."

"The struggle of existence is fundamentally an internal affair."

"To be human is to be a perfected reflection of the divinely infinite."

"We must remember that we are the art and nature of existence."

"Existence means to be engaged in a process of becoming, living and unfolding."

"The notion of existence is stark naked; it itself is simply a presence without fullness."

"We experience apprehension over the threshold of existence because we understand that life itself is a rasselbande."

"The serenity of existence flows into the being of those who comprehend it existentially."

"In the landscape of existence, every moment is an opportunity to transcend the ordinary."

Final words

In revisiting the thoughts of Soren Kierkegaard, we encounter a profound engagement with the existential facets of life and the complex nature of individuality, faith, and consciousness. Kierkegaard's insights urge us to confront our inner truths and propel us to ponder deeply the philosophical quandaries of existence. His work serves as a reminder that life's greatest answers often lie in introspection and reflection. One finds in Kierkegaard a guide for not only understanding but embracing the inherent ambiguities and paradoxes of human existence. Through his eloquent yet intricate expressions, the timeless relevance of his philosophy continues to inspire critical reflection in our modern era, encouraging us to pursue authentic lives grounded in personal truth and profound self-awareness.