The Quotable Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard, Gordon Marino

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780691259383, 9780691155302
• eBook ISBN: 9781400848799
• Subtopic: Existentialism in Philosophy

The most comprehensive and authoritative collection of Kierkegaard quotations ever published

"Why I so much prefer autumn to spring is that in the autumn one looks at heaven—in the spring at the earth."—Søren Kierkegaard

The father of existentialism, Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a philosopher who could write like an angel. With only a sentence or two, he could plumb the depths of the human spirit. In this collection of some 800 quotations, the reader will find dazzling bon mots next to words of life-changing power. Drawing from the authoritative Princeton editions of Kierkegaard's writings, this book presents a broad selection of his wit and wisdom, as well as a stimulating introduction to his life and work.

Organized by topic, this volume covers notable Kierkegaardian concerns such as anxiety, despair, existence, irony, and the absurd, but also erotic love, the press, busyness, and the comic. Here readers will encounter both well-known quotations ("Life must be understood backward. But then one forgets the other principle, that it must be lived forward") and obscure ones ("Beware false prophets who come to you in wolves' clothing but inwardly are sheep—i.e., the phrasemongers"). Those who spend time in these pages will discover the writer who said, "my grief is my castle," but who also taught that "the best defense against hypocrisy is love."

Illuminating and delightful, this engaging book also provides a substantial portrait of one of the most influential of modern thinkers.

• Gathers some 800 quotations
• Drawn from the authoritative Princeton editions of Kierkegaard's writings
• Includes an introduction, a brief account and timeline of Kierkegaard's life, a guide to further reading, and an index

INDEX

Note: Page numbers in italic type indicate illustrations.

Abel, 113

Abraham, 67, 114–15, 179, 180

Abraham a St. Clara, 170

absolute, the, 149, 165–66, 193

abstraction, 20, 134

absurd, the, 135–37. See also irony; paradox

action: and accomplishment, 52; choice and, 95; criteria for judging, 99; excuses for not taking, 75; lack/absence of, 59; observations on, 23, 40, 46–47, 61; significance of, 142; speech vs., 26, 41

actuality: abstraction vs., 134; engagement in, 142; genius’s relationship to, 119; God and, 175; inattention to, 13; irony and, 166; knowledge about, 134, 142; love and, 200, 204; philosophers on, 130; recollection vs., 50; self in relation to, 37; wretchedness in, 38

Adam, 63

Adler, Alfred, xxx

admiration, 38, 46, 106

aesthetic, the. See esthetic, the

aging, 47, 179

aloneness, 66, 68, 170

Andersen, Hans Christian, 12

anthropomorphisms, 197

anti-Semitism, xxii

anxiety, 65–69; Abraham and, 67; about being alone, 66, 68; the demonic and, 193; freedom and, xvi–xvii; as fundamentally human, 67, 68; about the future, 66–67; K’s, 4; meaning of, xxiv–xxv; about the past, 35; possibility and, 65–66, 69; and sorrow, 69; spirit in relation to, xxv, 66, 68; value of, 65

aphorisms and observations, xix–xx, 18–63, 19

Aristides, 107

Aristotle, xxviii, xxxiii

arrogance, 43

art, 110

artists, 45

Atlas, 34

atonement, 197

Augustine, Saint, xxxiv, 30

authority, 117–18

autobiographical passages, 1–18

awakening, xviii, 43, 63, 65, 73. See also sleep

beginning, 60

belief: deception and, 103; doubt vs., 184; freedom in relation to, 91;...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Kierkegaard’s Biography
• Sources and Abbreviations
• Chronology
• Autobiographical
• Authority
• Bibliography
• Index