"One sticks one's finger into the soil to tell by the smell in what land one is: I stick my finger in existence — it smells of nothing. Where am I? Who am I? How came I here? What is this thing called the world? What does this world mean? Who is it that has lured me into the world? Why was I not consulted, why not made acquainted with its manners and customs instead of throwing me into the ranks, as if I had been bought by a kidnapper, a dealer in souls? How did I obtain an interest in this big enterprise they call reality? Why should I have an interest in it? Is it not a voluntary concern? And if I am to be compelled to take part in it, where is the director? I should like to make a remark to him. Is there no director? Whither shall I turn with my complaint?"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Absurdists19th-century philosophersChristian existentialistsNovelists from DenmarkPhilosophers from Denmark
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Voice: Young Man
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Søren Kierkegaard
1813 – 1855
dänischer Philosoph, Theologe und Schriftsteller
245 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Søren Kierkegaard →
Related Quotes
"Individuals of the contemporary generation are fearful of existence … only in great masses do they dare to live, and …"
"If a person incurred some greater guilt but also improved and year by year steadily made progress in the good, it is …"
"His reverence will assert that there is too much philosophy in the book; His Right Reverence’s mental eye will seek i…"
"Can one blame the atheist for assuming His Reverence to be a bit lunatic, quite literally understood? The difficult d…"
"In order to learn true humility (I use this expression to describe the state of mind under discussion), it is good fo…"
"After a considerable walk through the forest, where I became acquainted with several of the little lakes I am so fond…"
"It is as useless for a person to want first of all to decide the externals and after that the fundamentals as it is f…"
"A master and way out of the league that the rest of us play in."
"If the ethical – that is, social morality – is the highest ... then no categories are needed other than the Greek phi…"
"It will be easy for us once we receive the ball of yarn from Ariadne (love) and then go through all the mazes of the …"