5th May: Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, was born on this date in 1813. Here are 10 things he said:

1. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
2. Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.
3. Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living.
4. God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.
5. Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
6. The task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted.
7. To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.
8. Don't forget to love yourself.
9. Once you label me you negate me.
10. Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.