Søren Aabye Kierkegaard quotes
1813 – 1855 · Denmark, 19th century · philosopher, theologian and writer
About Søren Aabye Kierkegaard
Born in Copenhagen on 5 May 1813, died there on 11 November 1855. He published both pseudonymous and signed works, probing individual existence, faith, anxiety and responsibility in major books such as Either/Or, Fear and Trembling and The Sickness Unto Death, and polemicized against the Danish state church.
Works: Either/Or; Fear and Trembling; The Sickness Unto Death; Concluding Unscientific Postscript
Quotes
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Source: Journal entry JJ:167 (1843) · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The idea is attested in Kierkegaard’s journal entry JJ:167 (1843); the canonical English sentence is a later shortened rendering of that passage.
- What remains uncertain
- The familiar English wording compresses and slightly alters the original journal sentence, and the citation often misdates the entry to 1844.
Kierkegaard highlights a structural conflict: meaning is something you assemble in hindsight, while living requires forward movement amid uncertainty. The thought appears in his private journal (JJ:167, 1843) and stresses that understanding and action occupy different temporal roles.