Søren Kierkegaard — Quote from Journals
“What I really need is to get clear about what I must do, not what I must know, except insofar as knowledge must precede every act.”
Journals (1835)
Concepts: absurd, agency, meaning
Resonant Quotes
- “Living an experience, a particular fate, is accepting it fully. Now, no one w...” — Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus These quotes capture the existential pivot from contemplation to commitment—Camus advocates embracing absurdity throu...
- “People never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as ano...” — Albert Camus, The Stranger These quotes present opposing existential stances—Camus's resigned acceptance of life's equivalence directly contradi...
- “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Ju...” — Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus Both philosophers prioritize existential action over abstract knowledge, with Camus's fundamental question of living ...
- “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One m...” — Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus Both philosophers prioritize action over understanding, but where Kierkegaard seeks clarity before action, Camus sugg...
- “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort o...” — Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science Kierkegaard's emphasis on ethical action over metaphysical knowledge anticipates and offers a response to Nietzsche's...
- “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is respon...” — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness Both quotes prioritize the primacy of action over theoretical knowledge in human existence—Kierkegaard's emphasis on ...
- “Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness ...” — Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea Sartre's existential meaninglessness creates the very condition that makes Kierkegaard's emphasis on decisive action ...
- “If God does not exist, everything is permitted.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Kierkegaard's emphasis on action over knowledge provides the existential response to Dostoevsky's moral vacuum—when e...