KIERKEGAARD QUOTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

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This area is planned in four sections: I. Quotations from Kierkegaard. II. Quotations not in fact from Kierkegaard. III. Kierkegaard General Questions. IV. Kierkegaard Language Questions.

I. QUOTATIONS FROM KIERKEGAARD:

Affliction:
"Affliction is able to drown out every earthly voice.....but the voice of eternity within a man it cannot drown." Kierkegaard: Christian Discourses, tr. Walter Lowrie, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1971 orig. pub. 1940 by Oxford University Press, p. 114. See also: Hong: KW XVII, Christian Discourses and The Crisis and A Crisis in the Life of an Actress, p. 109: "...hardship can drown out every earthly voice...but it cannot drown out this voice of eternity deep within." SV 1st edition, X, p. 114.

Bible: See New Testament.

Change - and coming into existence:
"...what is the nature of the change of coming into existence; for all other change presupposes the existence of that which changes..." Hong: JP 1, A-E, entry 262. Pap. V B 15,1 p.76-7: "...hvilken er Tilblivelsens Forandring; thi al anden Forandring forudsaetter at det med hvilket Forandringen foregaaer er til..."

Change - and way out:
"...with every change there is fostered a hope of finding a way out." KW III: Either/Or part 1, The Seducer's Diary, p. 308. SV 1st edition, 1 p. 280 "...med hver Forandring fødes der et Haab om at finde en Udvei..."

Change of soil / rotation of crops:
"...rotation of crops consists in continually changing the soil." KW III: Either/Or part 1, The Rotation of Crops, p. 291. SV 1st edition, 1 p. 263. "Vexeldriften bestod i bestandig at vexle Jordbund."[bestod here = består i].

Child and walking:
"Take, for instance, a child and the parents' relation to it....Little Ludwig is taken daily for a ride in his baby-carriage...a delight little Ludwig understands very well. And yet the mother has hit upon something new....Couldn't he pull the carriage himself?....we know well enough that little Ludwig cannot, that it really is the mother who pulls the wagon, and it is only to give him delight she plays the game....And little Ludwig puffs and groans....his countenance beams with joy....It was a peerless delight....being able to do it himself." Kierkegaard: Judge for Yourselves! For Self-Examination and Judge for Yourselves! tr. Walter Lowrie, London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1941, pp. 194-195. Also: KW XXI: For Self-Examination Judge For Yourself! pp. 185-186. SV 1st edition XII, pp. 454-5.
"The loving mother teaches the child to walk alone. She is far enough from him so that she cannot actually support him, but she holds out her arms to him. She imitates his movements, and if he totters, she swiftly bends as if to seize him, so that the child might believe he is not walking alone...And yet, she does more. Her face beckons like a reward, an encouragement. Thus, the child walks alone with his eyes fixed on his mother's face, not on the difficulties in his way. He supports himself by the arms that do not hold him and constantly strives towards the refuge in his mother's embrace, little suspecting that in the very same moment that he is emphasizing his need for her, he is proving that he can do without her, because he is walking alone." Kierkegaard: Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. tr. Douglas V. Steere, New York, Harper & Row, 1983, p. 85. Also: KW XV: Upbuilding Discourses in Various Spirits, An Occasional Discourse, p. 49.

Christianity: doctrine and the existential:
"The moment I take Christianity as a doctrine and so indulge my cleverness or profoundity or my eloquence or my imaginative powers in depicting it, people are very pleased: I am looked upon as as serious Christian. The moment I begin to express existentially what I say, and consequently to bring Christianity into reality, it is just as though I had exploded existence - the scandal is there at once." In Alec Dru: The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard. [a selection]. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1938, entry 988 p. 343. Also in JP 1 A-E, entry 511. Pap. X,2 A 141, 1849.

Comiske, sands for:
Sands for det Comiske... SV 3rd edition, 10, Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift p. 189.

Dare:
Det er saaledes I Verdens Øine farligt at vove,....SV 3rd edition, 15 Sygdommen til Døden, p. 92 line 10ff. Also SV 1st edition, 11, p. 147-8; SV 2nd edition, 11, p. 166, line 14ff. [see also Non-Kierkegaard quotations below under 'Dare'].

Door:
"Alas, fortune's [Lykkens] door doesn't open inward so that one can push it open by rushing at it; but it opens outward, and therefore one can do nothing about it." The psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl often quotes this saying of Kierkegaard in his books: "The door to happiness opens outwards. Anyone who tries to push this door open thereby causes it to close still more".
Hong: KW III, Either/Or I, p. 23 in Diapsalmata. SV 1st edition,1 p. 7.

Dygtighed:
"Hvad er Dygtighed I et Individ kan man maale, hvor langt han har imellem at forstå og at ville....". "The quality of an individual can be measured by the distance between his understanding and his willing....Between understanding and willing lie excuses and evasions."
In Alec Dru: The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard. [a selection]. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1938, entry 576; JP IV S-Z, entry 4433. Kierkegaard's Papirer, Pap. VII,1 A 68.

Eternal consciousness....despair:
"If a human being did not have an eternal consciousness, if underlying everything there were only a wild, fermenting power... what would life be then but despair?"
In Hong: KW VI, Fear and Trembling; Repetition, Eulogy on Abraham, p. 15; SV 1st edition, III, p. 68.

Existence and finger:
"I stick my finger into existence s it smells of nothing. Where am I? What is this thing called the world? Who is it that has lured me into the thing, and now leaves me here? Who am I? How did I come into the world? Why was I not consulted?" The letter from the young aesthete, Oct. 11, My silent confidant. In Repetition, tr. Walter Lowrie, Princeton University Press 1941, Harper & Row, in several imprints, e.g., Harper Torchbooks, New York, London, 1964, p. 104 or Hong: KW VI, Fear and Trembling; Repetition, p. 200.

Fest:
"Ein Fest da höchst passend gefeiert wird mit einem richtigem Ess-und Trinkgelage, einem wildem Fest Mit Pfarrern und Hebammen an die Spitze der Lustbarkeit." / "En fest som højst passend bliver fejret med et rigtigt spise- og drikkegilde, en vild fest med praester og jordemødre på forlystelsens tinde."
In German it is to be found in Sören Kierkegaard, Gesammelte Werke, heraus. Und aus dem Dänischen übertragen von Emmanuel Hirsch, Hayo Gerdes u.a. 36 abt. In 26 Einzelbänden, Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1954-55, 34. Abt.: .: Der Augenblick, s. 235 linier 34ff. : "...ein Sieg, der höchst passend gefeiert wird mit einem richtigen Ess- und und Trinkelage, einem wilden Fest mit Bacchanten und Bacchantinnnen (Pfarrern und Hebammen) ander Spitze der Lustbarkeit."
In Danish in SK's SV, 3rd edition, vol.19 Bladartikler 1854-55 & Øieblikket 1-10: Øieblikket nr. 7, p. 228 line 13ff.: "...en Seier, der meest passende festligholdes ved et rigtigt Aede- og Drikke-Gilde, et vildt Comment med Bacchanter og Bacchantinder (Praester og Jordemødre) I Spidsen for Lystigheden." SV 1st edition, XIV, p. 253; SV 2nd edition, XIV, p. 261.

Finde ham hvor han er/find him where he is:
"At man, naar det i Sandhed skal lykkes En at føre et Menneske hen til et bestemt Sted, først og fremmest maa passe paa at finde ham der, hvor han er, og begynde der." Also found in Swedish as: "Om jag vill lyckas med att föra en människa mot ett bestämt mål, måste jag förstt finna henne där hon är och börja just där. Den som inte kan det lurar sig själv när hon tror att hon kan hjälpa andra. För att hjälpa någon måste jag visserligen förstS mer ä vad han gör, men först och främst förstå det han förstår. Om jag inte kan det sS hjälper det inte att jag kan och vet mera. Vill jag ändå visa hur mycket jag kan, så beror det pS att jag är fåfäng och höchmodig och egentligen vill bli beundrad av den andre I stället för att hjälpa honom. All äkta hjäpsamhet börjar med ödmjukhet inför den jag vill hjälpa, och därmed måste jag förstå att detta med att hjälpa inte är att vilja härska, utan att vilja tjäna. Kan jag inte detta så kan jag inte heller hjälpa honom." SV 3rd edition, 18, Synspunktet for min Forfatter-Virksomhed, pp. 96-7. SV, 3. udg. bd. 18, p. 96 from Synspunktet for min Forfatter-Virksomhed. In the older English translation it is Walter Lowrie's translation of this work: The Point of View for my Work as An Author, Harper Torchbooks, New York 1962, p. 27. Hong: KW XXII, The Point of View, The Point of View for My Work as an Author, etc., 1998, Danish SV 1st edition, vol. XIII page 533.

Geese:
The parable of the goose that becomes plump and fat and doesn't use its wings to fly. In Hong: JP, 3 L-R, entry 3067; Pap. XI,2 A 210 1854.
The wild goose that wanted to remain with the domestic geese. JP 3, L-R, entry 3065; Pap. XI,1 A 195 1854.

God:
"God is a highest conception, not to be explained in terms of other things, but explainable only by exploring more and more profoundly the conception itself." / "Gud er saaledes en høieste Forestilling, der ikke lader sig forklare ved Andet, men kun forklares ved at fordybe sig I Forestillingen selv;" From: Concluding Unscientific Postscript, tr. David F. Swenson & Walter Lowrie, Princeton University Press 1941, 1968 ff. p. 167. SV, 3rd edition 1962, vol. 9, p. 184, line 1. (Motto found in Gordon Kaufmann: The Theological Imagination, Constructing the Concept of God).

God, wrong before: On being wrong before God: :
From Ultimatum, the final part of Either/Or part II, Hong: KW IV, p. 339ff. "The Upbuilding that Lies in the Thought that in Relation to God We are Always in the Wrong" (the pastor's sermon). David and Lillian Marvin Swenson and Walter Lowrie translation of Either/Or [vol. II translated by Walter Lowrie alone], Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1972 printing. The Edification Implied in the Thought that as Against God we are Always in the Wrong, II pp. 343-356.

Gudinde:
"hiin gamle karrige Gudinde, der kun vilde elskes og tilbedes af nogle Faa, aabenbare sig for Faerre." SV 1st edition, V, Forord, p. 54-55. Hong KW IX, Prefaces, p. 50.

Homosexuality:
A psychological observation on homosexuality in antiquity. The reason why pederasty was so general in antiquity and was not really condemned was undoubtedly because of paganism's corruption, but psychologically there is something else to be remembered. In the relationship between man and woman, sex, there was no room whatsoever for the intellectual side; woman's position was too low for that and in the first place too low in man's estimation, which is the case everywhere in the East. The relationship is an entirely sexual one. And so the intellectual side is introduced into the love of young men as Socrates says, though in an entirely innocent sense, and so degenerated into that vice. But the intellectual side had nothing whatsoever to do with the love of the other sex. In Christendom, to greater or lesser degree, the intellectual side was added to the love of woman. But it is a question whether the addition of the intellectual side to such an instinct is not, morally, a very serious matter, and whether it does not produce a refinement as a result of which it is but little good loving and being faithful to only one when per abusum one goes and adds the intellectual side to it. Alexander Dru: The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard, London: Oxford University Press, 1938, entry 1075 p. 383. Hong JP, 4, S-Z, entry 3965. Pap. X2 A 536: En psychologisk Bemærkning om Oldtidens Drengekjerlighed. Grunden hvorfor Pæderastie var saa almindelig i Oldtiden og egentlig ikke fordømtes, var nu vistnok Hedenskabs Fordærvelse, men psychologisk er der dog noget Andet at erindre. I Forholdet mellem Mand og Qvinde, det Sexuelle, fandt det Intellectuelle aldeles ingen Plads; dertil stod Qvinden for lavt og fremfor Alt for lavt i Mandens Forestilling, som Tilfældet er [i] hele Orienten. Forholdet er her blot Kjøns-Forholdet. Det Intellectuelle anbragtes saa i Forhold til at elske unge Mennesker som Socrates siger, nemlig endnu i uskyldig Forstand; og udartede saa til hiin Last. Men det Intellectuelle havde slet Intet at gjøre med det at elske det andet Kjøn. I Christenheden har man sat mere eller mindre Intellectualiteten i Forhold til det at elske Qvinden. Et stort Spørgsmaal er og bliver det, om hele denne Tilsætning af Intellectualitet i Forhold til en saadan Drift ikke, sædeligt, er en meget betænkelig Sag, om der ikke her udvikles et Raffinement der gjør, at det kun lidet hjælper, at man kun elsker een og holder sig til denne ene, naar man per abusum sætter saaledes Intellectualiteten sammen dermed.

Imagination, shuddering of:
"Picture a man, who with all the shuddering of a terrified imagination has represented to himself some horror as a thing absolutely not to be endured. Now it befalls him, precisely this horror befalls him. Humanly speaking his destruction is the most certain of all things - and the despair in his soul fights desperately to get leave to despair....The believer perceives and understands...his destruction...but he believes. Therefore he does not succumb. He leaves it wholly to God how he is to be helped, but he believes that for God all things are possible...." Kierkegaard: The Sickness unto Death, in Fear and Trembling and The Sickness unto Death, tr. Walter Lowrie, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1941, 1954, 1968, pp. 171-172. Also see Hong: KW XIX, The Sickness unto Death p. 38-39. SV 1st edition, XI, Sygdommen til Døden, p. 151-152.

Knowledge - objective and subjective:
"...the change is this: whereas objective knowledge goes along leisurely on the long road of approximation...to subjective knowledge every delay is a deadly peril."
In Hong: KW XII, 1:Concluding Unscientific Postscript, p. 200.
SV 1st edition, VII, p. 167-8: .."Forandringen er denne, at medens den objektive Viden gaaer i Mag frem af Approximationens lange Vei...er for den subjektive Viden ethvert Ophold livsfarligt..."

Leap of Faith: See below under Questions.

Life:
"Life is lived forward but understood backward." This quotation occurs in various reported forms: e.g.: "life(history?)must be lived forward but can only be understood backward." "Man kann das Leben nur rückwärts verstehen, doch leben müssen wir es vorwärts." "Life must be lived in the present and viewed from the past." "You can only understand life backwards, but we must live it forwards." In Kierkegaard's Danish this is: "Livet skal forstås baglaens, men leves forlaens". A literal translation is: 'Life is to be understood backwards, but it is lived forwards'. Kierkegaard is alluding to Carl Daub, 1765-1836, professor of theology at Heidelberg university. This is what Daub says [in 'Die Form der christlichen Dogmen- und Kirchen-Historie', Zeitschrift för spekulative Theologie, ed. Bruno Bauer, I-III, Berlin, 1836-38, I, 1836, p. 1]: "The act of looking backward is, just like that of looking into the future, an act of divination; and if the prophet is well called an historian of the future, the historian is just as well called, or even better so, a prophet of the past, of the historical". Kierkegaard repeats this thought of Daub, putting it together with the thought that life is "lived forward". Life can be interpreted only after it has been experienced, but the past informs one's understanding and grasp of the future.
The allusion occurs in S.K. in several places. In Hong: KW I, From the Papers of One still Living, p. 78 and in Hong: KW VII, Philosophical Fragments, p.80. Also in: JP 1, A-E, entries 1030 and 1025.

Map analogy:
"Having to exist with the help of the guidance of pure thinking is like having to travel in Denmark with a small map of Europe on which Denmark is no larger than a steel pen-point - indeed, even more impossible." Kierkegaard: Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Hong: KW XII: Concluding Unscientific Postscript, p. 310-311. Cf. Concluding Unscientific Postscript, tr. David F. Swenson & Walter Lowrie, Princeton University Press 1941, 1968 ff. p. 275. SV 1st edition, VII, Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift p. 266. Cf. Leo Rauch: The Philosophy of Hegel. Monarch Notes study guide 1965: "he is at a crossroad, looking for the way to Copenhagen. The signs are down, there is nothing to guide him. A map? Yes, he has a map. He reaches in his pocket and gets his 'Pocket Map of the World'--and here, all of Denmark is nothing but a speck!" Cf. Pap. XI,2, A 322: "...already on the map of Denmark Copenhagen is not a great point; on a map of Europe it is a little point; on the globe it is a spot..." [equality of salvation].

Marriage: voyage of discovery:
:"marriage is and remains the most important voyage of discovery a human being undertakes...". In Hong: KW XI, Stages on Life's Way, p. 89. In the Walter Lowrie translation, Stages on Life's Way, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1940 & 1967, (Schocken Books edition). The saying occurs in: 'Various Observations about Marriage, in reply to objections, by a married man'), p. 97. SV 1st edition, VI, p. 87: '...Aegteskabet er og bliver den vigtigste Opdagelses-Reise, et Menneske foretager sig."

Marry: "Marry or do not marry, you will regret it either way." "Heirate oder heirate nicht, Du wirst beides bereuen." In Hong: KW III, Either/Or Part I, Diapsalmata, p. 38; SV 1st edition, I, p. 23. In the Hirsch Gesammelte Werke, Entweder-Oder, margin page SV 1, p. 23.

Mennesker: Det Sørgelige for: The sad thing about us humans:
"Det Sørgelige for os Mennesker er egentlig, at det n2sten gjaelder om Alt i vort Liv, at først bag efter, dvs., efterat vi har gjort det og ofte galt, saa veed vi, hvordan vi skulde have gjort det." Pap. X,1 A 238, 1849, p. 158. "The sad thing about us humans is actually, that it holds true of almost everything in our lives, that first afterwards, after we have done something and and often badly, then we know how we should have done it." JP 1, A-E, entry 1074.

Mother tongue:
Frater Taciturnus in "Letter to the Reader" on Danish as his mother tongue: Hong: KW XI, Stages on Life's Way, p. 489-490. Danish: SV 1st edition, VI, p. 454-455. "...eine Sprache, welche nicht ohne Ausdruck ist für das Grosse, das Entscheidende, das Auffallende, jedoch eine anmuutige, eine zierliche, eine glückselige Vorliebe hat für den Zwischengedanken und den Nebenbegriff und das Beiwort, und das Flüstern der Stimmung, und das Raunen des Uebergangs, und die Innigkeit der Beugung und die verborgene Ueppigkeit des heimlichen Wohlseins; eine Sprache, welche Scherz fast besser versteht als Ernst: eine Muttersprache, welche ihre Kinder fesselt mit einer Fessel, welche 'leicht zu tragen ist - ja! Aber schwer zu brechen'." See Hirsch: Gesammelte Werke, margin page ref: SV 1st edition, VI, p. 455.

Mountain and mouse:
"...the world makes a great noise merely in order to achieve a little change, sets heaven and earth in motion for nothing, like the mountain that gives birth to a mouse". In Hong: KW XVI, Works of Love, p. 137. SV 1st edition, IX, p. 132: "See, Verden gjør Allarm blot for at opnaae en lille Forandring, sætter Himmel og Jord i Bevægelse for Ingenting, som Bjerget, der føder en Muus".

New Testament: at det Nye Testamente skal laeses som et kaerligheds brev ell. Et brev til den elskede / that the New Testament is to be read as a love letter or a letter to the loved one. SV 3rd edition, 17, p. 69-75; SV 1st edition 12, p. 316ff. SV 2nd edition,12, p. 363 ff.; Hong: KW XXI, For Self-Examination & Judge For Yourself! p. 26ff. Cf. Pap. XI,2 A 51 p. 60: "Saa villig er han, den uendelige Kjerlighed, saa villig til at indlade sig med et Menneske, derfor er det han har skrevet os til Kjerligheds-Breve i sit Ord, og friet til os, og sagt kom kom....". "So willing is he, infinite love, so willing to become involved with a person that he has written love letters to us in his word, has proposed to us and said: come, come..." JP 3, L-R, entry 3099, p. 415.
Note that S.K. would have used Frederik VI's bible 1819. See also the section on Bibles and theological works in Niels Thulstrup: Søren Kierkegaards Bibliotek. En Bibliografi, Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 1957, Bibler, Tekstudgaver og Oversaettelser, p. 28ff. or H.P. Rohde:Auktionsprotokol over Søren Kierkegaards Bogsamling, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen, 1967, Bibeludgaver, p. 7ff.

Nobody laughs:
"In the magnificent cathedral the Honorable and Right Reverend Geheime-General-Ober-Hof-Prädikant, the elect favorite of the fashionable world, appears before an elect company and preaches with emotion upon the text he himself elected: "God has elected the base things of the world, and the things that are despised" - and nobody laughs." Walter Lowrie: Kierkegaard's Attack upon "Christendom", Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968 ed. The Instant No. 6, p. 181. Also in KW XXIII, The Moment and Late Writings, The Moment, 6, p. 203. SV 1st ed., XIV, 217.

Prayer in the name of Jesus:
"I cannot pray in the name of Jesus to have my own will; the name of Jesus is not a signature of no importance, but the decisive factor. The fact that the name of Jesus comes at the beginning does not make it a prayer in the name of Jesus; but this means to pray in such a manner that I dare name Jesus in it, that is to say, dare to think of Him, think His holy will together with whatever I am praying for." Hong: JP III, L-R, entry 3441, p. 570-571 in the section on prayer. Danish: Pap. X,2 A 77, 1849: "jeg kan ikke i Jesu Navn bede om min egen Villie; Jesu Navn er ikke en ligegyldig Paategning, men det Afgjørende; det at der staaer Jesu Navn foran er ikke at bede i Jesu Navn, men det er at bede saaledes, at jeg tør nævne Jesu Navn dertil, det vil sige, tænke mig ham, hans hellige Villie sammen med det jeg beder om. "I cannot in the name of Jesus pray to have my own will; the name of Jesus is not an indifferent appellation, but what is decisive; that Jesus' name comes at the beginning is not to pray in Jesus' name; but it is to pray so that I dare mention Jesus' name in it, that is, think him, his holy will together with what I am praying for."

Professor: The professor who lives off Christ being crucified/to live off Christ's having been Crucified:
The professor of theology is "professor in what cost Christ a life of anguish and a death anguished to the point of despairing over God's help". In JP 3 L-R, entry 3585 and cf. 3571 where it speaks among other things of the one who 'would become professor of Christ's being crucified'. There is a collection of references to 'Professors" from p. 634-657.

Project/not new ideas:
But I think I hear someone saying: 'These are not your ideas, this has been said throughout the ages..." In Hong: KW VII, Philosophical Fragments and Johannes Climacus, p. 21-22, SV 1st edition p. 191. "This, as you see, is my project! But perhaps someone will say, "This is the most ludicrous of all projects...."

Quantitative/qualitative:
Can there be a transition from quantitative qualification to a quantitative one without a leap? And does not the whole of life rest in that? See JP 1, A-E, entry 261.
Pap. IV C 7: Kan Overgangen skee fra en quantitativ Bestemmelse til en Qualitativ uden ved et Spring? Og ligger ikke Livet heri?

Science, devotee of:
"One may ask even of a devotee of science that he should acquire an ethical understanding of himself before he devotes himself to scholarship, and that he should continue to understand himself ethically while immersed in his labours..." Concluding Unscientific Postscript, tr. David Swenson & Walter Lowrie, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1941, 1968, 1971, pp. 135-6. Also: Hong KW XII, 1: Concluding Unscientific Postscript, pp. 151-2; SV 1st edition, VII, p. 125; SV 3rd edition, 9, p. 126.

Sealed orders / sealed despatch:
The start of becoming a religious exception: "When he cannot tear open the sealed despatch that is only to be opened out there and that contains the orders from God." In Hong: KW XI, Stages on Life's Way, p. 181, Cf. also: JP 6, entries 6356 and 6370: "a warship does not get its orders until it is out at sea" and "I have received my orders out on the open sea".

Spider:
"When a spider plunges from a fixed point to its consequences, it always sees before it an empty space where it can never set foot, no matter how it wriggles."
Either/Or, translated David Swenson & L.M. Swenson, Princeton University Press, 1971 and earlier. Part 1, Diapsalmata p. 24, line 4. Also Hong: KW III, Either/Or, 1, p. 24.

Theatre and worship:
"...make a fool of God...let him sit and wait in heaven and then play Christianity in public or in theaters built for that purpose and called houses of God...". In JP 4, S-Z, entry 5049; Pap. XI,2 A 50. Cf. Also Hong: KW XII, 1 Concluding Unscientific Postscript p. 157-8; SV 1st edition, VII, p. 129-130. Hong: KW XX, Practice in Christianity, p. 244, SV 1st edition, XII, p. 223.
"The stage is eternity, and the listener...stands before God during the talk." "God is the critical theatergoer, who looks on to see how the lines are spoken and how they are listened to: hence here the customary audience is wanting. The speaker is then the prompter, and the listener stands openly before God." p. 180-181 In Purity of Heart, tr. Douglas V. Steere, Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row, New York, 1956. Hong: KW XV, Upbuilding Discourses in Various Spirits, p. 124-125; SV 1st edition, VIII, 217-218.

Tid og Evigheden:
"Den uendelige qualitative Forskjel mellem Tid og Evigheden" quoted by Karl Barth. The nearest to the quotation as given appears to be: "...saaledes maa der vaere en evig Forskjel mellem det Timelige og det Evige..." in Lidelsernes Evangelium, SV 3rd edition, 11, p. 287 line 17. Cf. "...mellem Gud og Menneske er der en evig vaesentlig qualitativ Forskjel..." "Om Forskjellen mellem et Genie og en Apostel" SV 3rd edition, 15, p. 57 & 58; cf. also Bogen om Adler, Pap. VII,2 B 235, p. 145. Cf. "...Men at det Christelige maa reflektere sig omvendt ligger I, at Endelighed og Uendelighed, Evighed og Timelighed, christeligt, ere qualitativ ueensartede...", Pap. X,5 A 11, p. 13. Cf. "Lidelsen haenger sammen med, at Gud og Menneske er qualitetsforskjellig og at Timelighed og Evigheds Sammenstød I Timelighed maa give Lidelse." Pap. XI,2 A 130 p. 142.

Walking: "When I have a problem I walk and walking makes it better."
Kierkegaard says: "Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one can not walk away from it...". JP, 5, entry 6063, pp. 411-412, S.K.'s letter to his niece Jette. Also in Hong: KW 25, Letters and Documents, Letter 150, p. 214-215.

Wonder:
"Wonder...which is the beginning of all deeper understanding". "Forundring, som er al dybere Forstaaelses Begynden". Hong: KW X, Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions, p. 24 "On the Occasion of a Confession". SV 1st edition, V, Tre Taler ved taenkte Leiligheder, p. 189. SV 3rd edition, 6, p. 259.

  [ Jump Station ]

II. QUOTATIONS NOT IN FACT FROM KIERKEGAARD:

Christian: only one:
"There was only one Christian, and he died on the cross." Falsely ascribed to Kierkegaard. In fact it comes from Nietzsche: See The Anti-Christ para. 39: "..in reality there has been only one Christian, and he died on the Cross."

Dare:
"To dare is to lose your foothold for a moment; not to dare is to lose yourself." On a large postcard published by Upside AB, Lille-Jans Plan 2, 114 25, Stockholm, Sweden, (Tel: 08-10 96 50). in 1982 art. No. 00616. (often thought to come from Either/Or). Also found in Danish: "at turde er at miste fodfaeste et øjeblik, at ikke turde er at miste sig selv." Also found in other variants:
"There comes a time when you must dare to lose your foothold or lose your own soul", (Alastair McKinnon had this from Peter Parkov, August 1986).
"at vove er at slippe fodfaestet et kort Øieblik, men ikke at vove er at gro fast" (through Howard Hong, 1980s).
Also: "To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one's self."
"At våge er at miste forfaestet for en kort tid. Ikke at v&asring;ge er at miste sig selv."
"To dare is to loose one's footing for a short time. Not to dare is to loose oneself."
"At risikere er at give slip på sig selv, ikke at risikere er at miste sig selv" quoted by Klaus Birkholm as being SK, in Weekendavisen, 28.7.89, p. 8.
At våga är at förlora fotfästet en liten stund. At inte vågra är at förlora sig själv. (Swedish).
As given, this is not a genuine Kierkegaard quotation. The nearest to this in S.K. is: "Det er saaledes i Verdens Øine farligt at vove, og hvorfor? Fordi man saa kan tabe. Men det ikke at vove, det er klogt. Og dog, ved ikke at vove kan man just saa forfaerdelig let tabe, hvad man dog, hvor meget man end tabte ved at vove, vanskeligt tabte, og i ethvert Tilfaelde aldrig saaledes, saa let, saa ganske som var det Ingenting - sig selv. Thi har jeg vovet forkeert, nu vel, saa hjaelper Livet mig med Straffen. Men har jeg slet ikke vovet, hvo hjaelper mig saa? Og naar jeg ovenikjøbet ved slet ikke i høieste Forstand at vove (og at vove i høieste Forstand er just at blive opmaerksom paa sig selv) feigt vinder alle jordiske Fordele - og taber mig selv!" This is to be found in SV 3rd edition, 15, Sygdommen til Døden p. 92 line 10ff.; SV lst edition,11, p. 147-148; SV 2. edition, 11 p. 166, line 14ff. In German Gesammelte Werke heraus. und ...übertragen von Emmanuel Hirsch, Hayo Gerdes u.a. (36 Abteil. In 26 Einzebänden. Diedrichs Verlag, Düsseldorf 1954-65: Die Krankheit zum Tode, Abt. 24, s. 31, line 16. See also Hong: KW XIX, The Sickness unto Death, pp. 34-35.
There is also in Enten/Eller I, [Either/Or] SV 3rd edition, 2, p. 291, line 22: 'Seducer's Diary': "lad denne nydelige lille Fod, hvis Smalhed jeg allerede har beundret, lad den forsøge sig i Verden, vov at forlade Dem paa den, den vil vel find Fodfaeste, og gyser det et Øieblik i Dem, fordi det er som om den forgjeves søgte det,....saa traek hurtig den anden Fod til. Peter Tudvad [Kierkegaards København] tells us that the false quote orginates from a Swedish pastor who used Kierkegaard in a funeral sermon.

Fishing:
"I go fishing for a 1,000 monsters in the depths of my own soul." Ascribed to Kierkegaard in the Søren Kierkegaard episode from the BBC series, The Sea of Faith, (shown 3rd & 7th October, 1984). This quotation is not from Kierkegaard.

Fortiden:
"Der hvor fortiden oppleves som skyld, der oppleves fremtiden som angst. Men der fortiden oppleves som syndenes forladelse, der oppleves fremtiden som håb."
The quotation is to be found on p. 77 in Per Arne Dahl: Oss syndere imellem, 5. Opplag 1981, Oslo, 1979, Luther forlag with Credo forlag. In the book, Per Arne Dahl says the quotation is from Kierkegaard, but later he confirms that it is not from S.K. but from the Norwegian domprovst Peder Olsen.

Luminous haze:
..."a soft, impalpable, self-luminous haze of violet colour, unlike any physical vapour.....I perceived the wonderful fact that it extended farther than the walls and roof of the building and was not confined by them. Through these I now could look and could see the landscape beyond.... Yet for all this intensified perceptive power there was as yet no loss of touch with my physical surroundings, no suspension of my faculties of sense....I felt happiness and peace - beyond words. Upon the instant the luminous blue haze engulfing me and all around me became transformed into a golden glory, into light untellable....The golden light of which the violet light seemed now to have been as the veil or outer fringe, welled forth from a central immense globe of brilliancy." Ascribed to Kierkegaard, but in fact from: W.L. Wilhurst: Contemplations, pp. 142ff. quoted in: R.C. Johnson: The Imprisoned Spendour, London & New York, 1953, pp. 306-7. Further quoted in: Micea Eliade: The Two and the One, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637, Phoenix edition 1979, pp. 70-71:
"I caught sight in the aisle at my side, of what resembled bluish smoke issuing from the chinks of the stone floor. Looking more intently, I saw it was not smoke, but something finer, more tenuous - a soft, impalpable, self-luminouus haze of violet colour, unlike any physical vapour. Thinking I experienced some momentary optical defect or delusion, I turned my gaze farther along the aisle, but there too the same delicate haze was present....I perceived the wonderful fact that it extended farther than the walls and roof of the building and was not confined by them. Through these I now could look and could see the landscape beyond....I saw from all parts of my being simultaneously, not from my eyes only. Yet for all this intensified perceptive power there was as yet no loss of touch with my physical surroundings, no suspension of my faculties of sense....I felt happiness and peace - beyond words. Upon the instant the luminous blue haze engulfing me and all around me became transformed into a golden glory, into light untellable....The golden light of which the violet light seemed now to have been as the veil or outer fringe, welled forth from a central immense globe of brilliancy....But the most wonderful thing was that these shafts and waves of light, that vast expanse of photosphere, and even the great central globe itself, were crowded to solidarity with the forms of living creatures...a single coherent organism filling all space and place, yet composed of an infinitude of individual existences....I saw moreover that these things were present in teeming myriads in the church I stood in; that they were intermingled with and were passing unobstructedly through both myself and all my fellow-worshippers....The heavenly hosts drifted through the human congregation as wind passes through a grove of trees."

Tod:
"Wer den Tod nicht will hat nie gelebt" or "Den som ikke vil Døden har aldrig levet". Cf. Kierkegaard's Papirer, Vol. X,3, p. 21: "Dødens Tanke fortaetter og concentrerer Livet", is the nearest. It is doubtful whether the quotation as given is from S.K.

  [ Jump Station ]

III. KIERKEGAARD GENERAL QUESTIONS:

Adler, Pastor Adolph: What was the content of Pastor Adolph Adler's alleged revelation?
In 1843, pastor Adolph Peter Adler wrote the following in the Preface to his book Nøgle Praedikener [Some Sermons], published in Copenhagen:
"In December last year I had almost completed a work that I would have called Popular Lectures on Subjective Logic. It was my own thought that had wrapped itself up in itself, and with a superficial knowledge of the Bible took upon itself to explain creation and Christianity. One evening I explained in particular the origin of evil; then I perceived as if in a flash of illumination, that it was spirit not thought that mattered, and that there was an evil spirit. The same night a hideous noise came down into our room. Then the Saviour commanded me to get up and go into [my study] and write down these words:
The first humans could have had an eternal life; for when thought links God's spirit with the body, then life is eternal, when a person links God's Spirit with the body, then a person is God's child; then Adam had been God's son. But they sinned. Thought wrapped itself up in itself without the world, without body. It separated the Spirit from the body, the Spirit from the world. And when humankind itself, when thought itself separates the Spirit from the body and the Spirit from the world, then humankind must die and the world and the body become evil. And what becomes of the Spirit? The Spirit goes out of the body. But God does not take it back. And it becomes his enemy. And where does it go? Back to the world. Why? It is angry with the world that gave it up. It is the evil Spirit. And the world itself created the evil Spirit.
Thereupon Jesus told me to burn my own work and for the future keep to the Bible.
About Sermons and Discourses from No. 6 to the end I know that they are written through the co-operative grace of Jesus, so that I have only been instrument.
Hasle, 18th June, 1843".

Authorship/Kierkegaard's writings:
Is there a copyright on Kierkegaard's writings? Kierkegaard's work in Danish has long ceased to be the subject of copyright, so anyone can translate or quote him with no problems. His literary estate fell into the hands of his brother Peter Christian in 1855, and Peter did his best to make sure everything was published. Since then everything has definitely been published. However, one needs to take care concerning copyright of specific translations of Kierkegaard and special Danish editions where the text is published in a particular manner. If in doubt, ask the publisher.

Either/Or - was it written at Gilleleje?
Either/Or has been said to be written at Gilleleje, North Zealand: A story told in the North Zealand area is that Kierkegaard carried writing materials and mss. in a pistol case on his holiday journey to Gilleleie in 1835. He is said to have written a lot of the book on the cliff-top and to have called the book 'Either/Or' because the original meaning of 'Gilleleie' was gyldigleje, meaning a place between the cliffs (apparently suggesting the contrast between the cliff and the place below: either/or). This story has been told by Hans Christian Terslin (1886-1977), senior teacher and Gilleleje Museum director - he founded the Gilleleje Museum. Julia Watkin was told the story in the 1980s by a journalist attached to the Frederiksborg Amtsavis.
There is no truth in the story, which has roots in the introduction to Either/Or, where one is told that Victor Eremita, after he found mss. in the secret drawer, put them into a pistol case and took them on his journey. (SV 1st edition, I, Enten-Eller, p. VIII). Kierkegaard in a Journal entry (Pap. VII,1 A 92, 1846, cf. JP 5 entry 5931) tells us that Either/Or was written in 11 months with at most a page (of Diapsalmata material) written before that time. Kierkegaard clearly was working out the plot in the months before he left for Berlin (Oct. 25th, 1841), and he reports to his friend Emil Boesen, that he is working on this book. See Hong: KW III Either/Or Part I, p. vii and Hong: KW XXV Letters and Documents, Letter 99, p. 89-90.

First Love, The: What is the synopsis of Augustin Eugène Scribe's play 'The First Love', that is reviewed by 'A' in Either/Or part 1?
The First Love is a one act comedy translated by Johan Ludvig Heiberg from Scribe's 'Les Premières Amours ou Les Souvenirs d'enfance'. The comedy was first presented on June 10, 1831 and published as no. 45 of the Repertoire of the Royal Theatre Copenhagen, 1832.
Cast:
Dervière an iron-founder in Franche-Comté
Emmeline his daughter [played by Heiberg's wife]
Charles her cousin
Rinville a young man from a neighbouring estate
Lapierre a servant of Dervière
The stage is arranged as a room with doors at the sides and at the back.
The Plot:
Dervière, who became a wealthy iron-founder thanks to help as a young man from Rinville's father, wants his only child Emmeline to marry young Rinville. Emmeline, who (like her cousin Charles) was brought up by her Aunt Judith on dozens of high romantic novels, wants to marry her cousin Charles, because (in high romantic tradition) they promised each other the eternal fidelity of the first love as the only love. Charles has been away 8 years (and also in high romantic tradition has had plenty of affairs of the heart). Emmeline still takes seriously their childhood promises and refuses to consider Rinville jr. as a suitor. Her father says he will postpone young Rinville's expected visit to the house and not force his daughter to marry Rinville. Rinville junior has also been abroad (studying for a number of years in Dusseldorf) and has only just this minute returned, so neither Emmeline nor Rinville have ever met him.
The servant Lapierre is sent off with the message rejecting Rinville jr. (hereafter Rinville) as suitor, but encounters Rinville (who has arrived far too early) already at the door. He thus gets to read the letter, and understanding that Charles is favourably regarded, passes himself off as Charles suddenly returned home.
Rinville meets Emmeline's father first, and Dervi|re explains to 'Charles' that he's not keen on the visit just now because he really wants Emmeline to marry Rinville.
Emmeline enters the room to say that a Mr. Zachary is downstairs on business to do with Charles. Because of her father's embarrassment, she 'guesses' that Rinville is Charles and declares that her heart told her it was Charles.
Her father goes downstairs to talk to Mr. Zachary and there follows a 'romantic' interlude in which Emmeline reminds Charles of all kinds of things about their romance years ago.
Rinville gets by thanks to luck and happening to know a verse of a song that she asks him if he still remembers: Sometimes indeed one says/That one escapes one's girl/But the heart clings to/One's first love.
Dervière returns with news from Mr. Zachary that Charles has a number of debts. In fact Mr. Zachary is a money lender and he's come for the money that Charles borrowed in his uncle's name. Mr. Zachary said that Charles had also done something else, something dreadful. Naturally both Emmeline and her father want to know what it is, and as 'Charles' alias Rinville doesn't know, there follows prevarication on his part. Emmeline isn't bothered about debts and other peccadilloes, but she notices that 'Charles' is no longer wearing the ring she gave him years ago and all is up.
At that moment the servant says there's another traveller at the door. Dervière thinks it must be Rinville, especially as the servant has to admit that he didn't actually take the letter to the Rinville estate. Both Emmeline and her father hurry off to put on their best clothes for the visitor. Emmeline says she's now prepared to look favourably on Rinville, thanks to 'Charles'' bad behaviour.
While 'Charles' is thus left alone, the real Charles enters. Charles has come to butter up his uncle to get help with his debts and also to break the news that he has had to marry a sewing girl (albeit of good family). Rinville gives him the receipt for the paid debt. Among other things Charles says: 'Indeed, I thought so, I thought to myself: either one has an uncle, or one has none." [quoted by S.K. in EO]. Rinville passes himself off as another nephew in the family and advises Charles to pretend to be Rinville in order to make sure he receives a good welcome. He also advises Charles to take off Emmeline's keepsake ring to avoid detection. Charles does so and gives it to Rinville.
When the real Charles as Rinville meets Emmeline and her father, Emmeline thinks that 'Rinville' presents an ugly and disgusting figure. She is not impressed that he is more interested in getting something to eat than he is in her.
After lunch Emmeline meets the real Rinville and, since 'Charles' can now show her the ring, forgives him and declares her love.
A little later she meets the real Charles and explains to him that since she loves Charles she cannot love him 'Rinville'. Charles ends by telling her that Charles is married. Emmeline calls her father and tells him the news. Dervière is furious that Charles not only has a number of debts but also has dared to marry without permission.
Naturally Rinville as 'Charles' next time gets a poor reception (he is rather stunned to know that he is already 'married'). Emmeline says she will marry (the real) Rinville, but (since she is sympathetic to Charles) she asks her father to forgive Charles and pay the rest of his debts for him.
In the grand finale, identities are revealed and all is well.
Emmeline: 'I can't get over my suprise. (to Charles) My poor cousin, could I get angry with you? (to Rinville) And you Mr. Rinville, whom I've never seen....
Rinville: You thought you had loved me in the old days.
Emmeline: It was a mistake: I mistook the past with the future.
For 'A's' review of 'The First Love', see Hong: KW III, Either/Or Part 1, pp. 231-279; SV 1st edition, I, p. 205-251.

Gilleleje memorial stone to Kierkegaard on the Gilbjerg:
What do we know about the stone on the cliff? Gilleleje Museum director Hans Christian Terslin (1886-1977) was chairman of the committee that erected the memorial stone to S.K. on the Gilbjerg at Gilleleie. Magister Hans Ellekilde took the initiative in the project. Also on the committee was Professor Vilhelm Andersen, author Helge Rode, head [rektor] Torsting, senior librarian H.O. Lange, professor Frithiof Brandt, professor Kuhr and professor Eduard Geismar. The Museum Society took care of the technical part of the proceedings. It is not clear who chose the inscription ('Hvad er Sandhed andet end en Leven for en Idee?' 'What is truth but to live for an idea?' Pap. I A 75, 1835, p. 55). According to Berlingske Aftensavis 17.6.1935, the stone was moved to the Gilbjerg by entreprenør Andersen from Rødkilde, which is a place just outside Gilleleje. On the occasion of the centenary year of S.K.'s death, pastor Villads Christensen made a speech in Gilleleje church on July 3rd, 1955. In the afternoon professor F.J. Billeskov Jansen made a speech at the Kierkegaard stone on the Gilbjerg and Hans Ellekilde gave a survey of the most accessible Kierkegaard writings. Hans Christian Terslin spoke on the topic of the memorial stone's 20 year existence. At the further celebration in 1985, professor F.J. Billeskov Jansen gave a lecture. (Note for those who are puzzled: in Kierkegaard's time Gilleleje was spelt 'Gilleleie', spelling not being fast fixed at the time, and the i and the j were often both used as alternative spellings).

Grave: Kierkegaard's grave:
Søren Kierkegaard is buried at Assistens Cemetery, Nørrebro, Kapelvej, Copenhagen, in the Kierkegaard family's burial place. Under Kierkegaard's name and birth/death dates, there is a verse:
Der er en liden Tid,
Saa har jeg vunden,
Saa er den ganske Strid
Med Eet forsvunden,
Saa kan jeg hvile mig
I Rosensale
Og uafladelige :/:
Min Jesum tale.
[Verse by Hans Adolph Brorson (1694-1764), from his hymn: "Halleluja, jeg har min Jesum funden" ]
A fairly literal translation reads:
There is a little time,
Then have I won,
Then will the entire strife
Be suddenly gone,
Then can I rest
In halls of roses
And ceaselessly
And ceaselessly [with]
My Jesus speak.
A translation of this verse can also be found in Hong: KW XXV, Letters and Documents, tr. Henrik Rosenmeier, p. 27, Document XIX: Decision about Burial Plot. On the current gravestone [the original is in the Copenhagen City Museum] the :/: that appears after 'Og uafladelige' in the original text has been omitted. This sign indicates repetition of a line. More about the Kierkegaard burial plot can be found in Grethe Kjaer: Den Gådefulde Familie. Historien Bag Det Kierkegaardske Familiegravsted, C.A. Reitzels Boghandel, Copenhagen 1981.

Grave: Where is Peter Christian Kierkegaard buried?
He is buried in Aalborg, Jutland in the Almene Kirkegå[Churchyard]: H III 4 r2kke 2/3. His grave consists of a marble cross mounted on the top of a marble slab. On the cross: 'Jesu/ ja du kan det mage, at vi Døden ej skal smage Du betalte Syndens Sold.' On the slab: Sophie Henriette Kierkegaard / F. Glahn,/ * 14 Mai 1809, - 12 Juni 1841 - + 1. Juni 1881./ Peter Christian Kierkegaard / * 6 Juli 1805, + 24 Februar 1888./ Gud er større end vort Hjerte./ Poul Egede Kierkegaard./ *27 Marts 1842, + 28 Februar 1915. Lille tavl t.h.: Nanna Louise Vallentin/ *17 August 1841 + 10 Juni 1921. [Peter Christian Kierkegaard was bishop of Aalborg 1857-1875 and was followed by P.E. Lind 1875-1888].

Height: How tall was Kierkegaard?
This is not known. An investigation in the Danish State Archives (Rigsarkivet - 3. afd. Forsvarets Arkiver) showed that this was not recorded on Kierkegaard's Udygtighedspas [Certificate of Medical Discharge] - see Hong: KW XXV, Letters and Documents, p. 8-9 Certificate of Medical Discharge from the Military. Cf. Thulstrup: Breve og Aktstykker vedrørende Søren Kierkegaard, I, p. 7. However one can make an estimation of Kierkegaard's height from his standing desk in the City Museum (Bymuseet), which was 125.5 cm. in height. See Det kongelige Bibliotek: Søren Kierkegaard Mindeudstilling, 1955, p. 46, nr. 149, Skrivepult.

Humour as a stage:
In Concluding Unscientific Postscript Johannes Climacus speaks about humour as an intermediate stage. As Reidar Thomte points out (in his Kierkegaard's Philosophy of Religion, New York, Greenwood Press, 1969 [also Princeton University Press 1948], p. 101-102), there is a problem as to where humour fits in. Climacus speaks of the aesthetic stage, and of the ethical, with the universal Religiousness A, and Christianity as Religiousness B. While humor is said to be "not yet religiosity," but on the boundary, it is also seen as the last terminus a quo or starting point in defining Christianity. Thomte sees two possible explanations: either that humour is the intermediate stage before Religiousness A, and then again before Christianity as Religiousness B (although Climacus speaks of only one intermediate stage of humour); or, Religiousness A is to be seen as within the category of humour because the religious stage culminates in Christianity and not Religiousness A. Thus humour, on this explanation, would be a boundary area between ethics and Religiousness A, but Religiousness A would be a continuous part of the ethical in the sense that the ethical is also the ethical-religious, i.e., the ethical and authentic religion are not divorced from each other. See David Swenson & Walter Lowrie trs.: Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1941, 1968, 1974, p. 258-259; Hong: KW XII,1, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, p. 291: "...humor advanced to the point of being the last terminus a quo in relation to the Christian type of the religious." SV 1st edition, VII, p. 249: "Saaledes er Humor avanceret som sidste terminus a quo i Forhold til det christelige Religieuse". Note the word "avanceret". Humour continues within Religiousness A up to Religiousness B. The individual within Christian religiousness A tries to live the ethical-religious life, but discovers guilt within himself - then sin. There is a deepening intensity of the existential situation from guilt to the radical state of sin.

King and maiden: Where can one find in Kierkegaard the analogical story of the king and the maiden [peasant girl]?
See: Kierkegaard: Philosophical Fragments, Hong KW VII, pp. 26-30. Or: Or: Philosophical Fragments, orig. tr. David Swenson, tr. revised by Howard V. Hong, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962, pp. 32-37. In the Danish: Kierkegaards Samlede Værker, 1st ed. 1901-06, 195-198.

Leap of Faith: Where does Kierkegaard use the phrase "leap of faith"?
In Kierkegaard's writings, notably in Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Kierkegaard uses the word "Springet" or "the leap", which translators have often translated as 'the leap of faith'. Alastair McKinnon in his article "Kierkegaard and 'The Leap of Faith'" [in Kierkegaardiana 16, published through C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen by the Søren Kierkegaard Society Denmark, 1993], pp. 107-125, objects to this translation as he says that the Danish equivalent should be "Troens Spring" for "Leap of Faith". Some writers have unfortunately misused the phrase "leap of faith" to suggest Kierkegaard encourages belief in irrational things. In his writings, however, Kierkegaard nowhere commends irrationality of belief. On "the leap" see: Hong: KW XII, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, index under 'leap' and 'Lessing'. Also look up 'leap' in the index of Hong: KW VII, Philosophical Fragments. Other references to 'leap' and 'faith' are to be found in JP, e.g.: JP 1, A-E, entry 261: Can there be a transition from quantitative qualification to a quantitative one without a leap? And does not the whole of life rest in that? Pap. IV C 7: Kan Overgangen skee fra en quantitativ Bestemmelse til en Qualitativ uden ved et Spring? Og ligger ikke Livet heri?
Behind Kierkegaard's use of the leap, or leap of faith, is Gotthold Lessing's short, but famous, 1777 essay "On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power", in which Lessing argues that one cannot make a transition from contingent or historical truths to eternal or necessary truths (truths that cannot be otherwise). That is, the truths of history can never be translated into the category of necessary truths of reason or be used to prove their truth. If one were to have enough evidence to except a fact about the historical Jesus, this would thus not entail that one must accept e.g. that he was of one substance with God the Father. The distinction Lessing makes is known as "Lessing's ditch" or "Lessing's leap". You can't reason from historical truths to necessary, eternal, or metaphysical truths. If you could, you would thus be making a transition from one to the other through reason and Lessing thinks this is impossible.

Moving Day:
What was Moving Day? On a special day in the year, people renting houses or land moved from their previous tenancy to a new one. An ordinance of July 1, 1799, fixed moving day (with the exception of Easter week) on the third Tuesday in April and October. The October moving day was thus between the 15th and 21st of the month, while the April moving day could fall between the 15th and the 29th. The phenomenon of moving day appears to have been in connection with the date of rental contracts. The fact of moving day explains why Kierkegaard, when he moved to new residences in Copenhagen, moved in April or October.

Name: Kierkegaard's name.
Kierkegaard's name is pronounced: Søren 'Sir' as in Sir John Gielgud, 'ren' like the bird wren (Sir-ren), and Keer-ker-gaw 'Keer' like 'beer', 'ker' like 'fur' with a k and 'gaw' like 'more' with a g. His middle name is Aabye [O-boo (the O a light O) is the nearest in English]. The reason for the difficulties with the name is that with the 'gaard' part of the surname the aa is not an 'a' but what is now written in modern Danish as the letter å (a with a ring over it). There are three extra letters in the Danish alphabet Ø (slash O), AE diphthong, and AA now Å. How these letters are pronounced can vary a bit according to where they come in a word. In the U.S. and a number of countries outside Denmark the name 'Kierkegaard' is often pronounced with the 'gaard' part as if it is 'guard' as in lifeguard. This is a long-standing mistake because people thought the aa was an a. Contrary to popular belief, Kierkegaard's name does not mean 'Churchyard' or 'Cemetery' but 'Church Farm', because the name originates from the Church Farm of which his father's family were tenants in Saedding, Jutland. 'Kirkegård' also means 'churchyard' or 'cemetery', because the word 'gaard' ('gård' in modern Danish) can mean a number of things.

Portraits/Photos: Where can one get pictures of Kierkegaard?
To get copies of photos of Kierkegaard portraits, contact the Royal Library Copenhagen. Their website is: http://www.kb.dk/ You need the picture collection / billedsamling. The email address is: kb@kb.dk or try: jfj@kb.dk Before you contact the Royal Library it is wise to find some pictures of Kierkegaard that you like in books on Kierkegaard, photocopy them [if possible giving the source information of the picture]. The Royal Library has a huge collection of photos and pictures, so they need specific guidance as to what it is you want. The Library's mail address is: The Royal Library, Slotsholmen, The picture/photo collection, Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1, 1210 Copenhagen K, Denmark.

Possibility, A: En Mulighed:
Some questions about the end of the story: Hong: KW XI, Stages on Life's Way, p. 287; Walter Lowrie tr.: Stages on Life's Way, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1940; Schocken edition 1967, 1971, p. 267. SV 1st edition, VI, p. 268-269. 1. Why a sea-captain?
This is connected with the setting of the story (see Pap. IV A 132). S.K. has chosen a waterfront area and a quarter where one meets provincial types. To match the area, S.K. choses a likely character, namely a captain. Note that in the '20s there was an enormous amount of shipping. 2. Why speak in English and Danish and a mixture?
This is because the captain has learned English and uses it when abroad, uses it to the Bookkeeper to show off his bits of English, and the bookkeeper humoured him by using English too. See Pap. IV A 105, S.K..'s own experience with a captain who had been to London. 3. Why every 14th day?
This belongs to the character S.K. is portraying. The bookkeeper is an eccentric creature of habit. - Possibly S.K. has met someone like that. 4. Why the joke about being 60?
See Pap. IV A 105, the captain of 84 who thought S.K. was very much older than he was. In the story the bookkeeper says he's 60 in order not to embarrass the captain too much. It would be a bit embarrassing for the captain if he had to admit that he was only 40. Cf. Pap. IV A 147 & Pap. V B 135, 1-22.

Rana Paradoxa:
Kierkegaard mentions a Rana Paradoxa in From the Papers of One Still Living Hong KW I, p. 63 note, and in The Concept of Anxiety Hong: KW VIII, p. 76. SV 3rd edition, 1, p. 23 note and SV 3rd edition, 6, p. 165, line 36. The name was given to a creature with the legs of a frog and the tail of a salamander. It was thought that its development was the reverse of that of a frog, so that the final stage was that of a fish. It turned out to be a big toad. See Cepede's Naturgeschichte der Amphibien ved Bechstein, Weimar 1800 II s. 391 & plate XXXI.

Regine Olsen: Age:
Was she 14 or 15 on 8th May 1837? The problem: on the stone in Assistens Cemetery, Copenhagen [Afd. B 295] it says she was born on 23rd January, 1822, dying 18/3/1904. In the Church registers it says she was born 23/1/22 and baptized 15/3/1823. In Kierkegaard's Papirer(Journals and Papers) the editors repeatedly assert the date of 23rd January 1823 as the birth date, and the baptism date as Feb. 15th 1823.
If she was born in 1822 and baptized in 1823, why did a year elapse before her baptism in view of its importance? If she was baptized earlier, why does the register give a later date - was she baptized at home earlier?
H.P. Rohde in Gaadefulde Stadier paa Kierkegaards Vej, Copenhagen, Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1974, p. 55 sticks to the 23.1.22 birthdate and baptism 15.3.23, but it is not impossible that she was born 23.1.23, if, by the time it was 1904, people didn't remember the date of her birth and looked in the Church Register to make sure of the year. Since the birthday was so early in the year, the person writing up the register could have made the error of writing the old year and thus the wrong information be used for the gravestone.
It is not clear why the editors give in the Papirer Feb. 15th 1823 for the baptism date. Either it is a case of error or they had access to other material. Thus, we do not know for certain whether she was 14 or 15.

Regine Olsen: Engagement:
The breaking of the engagement: c. August, 11th S.K. sends Regine's ring back to her and October 11th is the date of the final breach with her.

Regine: Regine or Regina?
The name 'Regina' is the name on the gravestone. S.K. and others used 'Regine' (in the same way a Julia often gets called Julie).

Regine and the theatre outing:
Kierkegaard is said to have said to Regine Olsen, when she wanted to go on a theatre outing and the carriage had already gone, that "glaeden foruden var den bedste" - the best part was the anticipatory joy.
This story is untrue as presented. Israel Levin (see Erindringer om Søren Kierkegaard, samlet udg. ved Steen Johansen, C.A. Reitzel 1980, p. 587-88; Bruce Kirmmse & Virginia R. Laursen trs.: Encounters with Kierkegaard, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996, p. 210) tells us that Kierkegaard said this to him on an occasion when they had just been together on a coach trip. Levin commented that the trip had been so lovely that one felt one could take it again. S.K. responded by suggesting that they go again if the coach was still there. The coach, however, had already gone, and S.K. made the comment.

Regine's Diary:
This was mentioned in 'Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Literatur und Kunst' 5.10.85, no. 231: ('"Sich in ein Mädchen hineindichten..." Kierkegaards Regine, neu entdeckt Von Dieter Hildebrandt'). The diary was said to be published by "Mathiesen & Kehlet, Kopenhagen 1985". The diary was unknown, the publishing house was unknown and Dansk Bogfortegnelse did not know the book. The account given of the diary rendered its genuine existence even more improbable, since there were some problems with the account, for example, the statement that Kierkegaard preached in Latin. In January 1986, the author of the article declared that the article was a spoof, along with another article about Goethe. The intention of the article was to tease in connection with the Frankfurter Book Fair.
The matter is further complicated by the publication on 14.9.01 by forlaget Hovedland, Denmark, of a diary (Regine Olsens dagbog) allegedly written by Regine Olsen in the period 1840-41. For details about this diary, see: International Kierkegaard Newsletter http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/kierkegaard/newsletters/2001/01other.html Kierkegaard specialists have not accepted the authenticity of the diary and point to various problems with details in the diary.

Regine's Gravestone:
In 'Kristeligt Dagblad' 31.7.2001(Kultur - series 'Mellem Taks og Tuja') there is an article by Rikke Rottensten about Assistens Cemetery: "De dødes rige - de levendes park". The author reports in the article that in 2000 the gravestone of Regine Olsen (Schlegel) and her family were stolen from the cemetery. For those doing research concerning Regine and her family, the following information may be helpful. Photos of the two stone tablets from the Olsen family's burial plot and helpful notes are to be found on p. 115 of David Cain: An Evocation of Kierkegaard/En Fremkaldelse af Kierkegaard, C.A. Reitzel, Copenhagen, 1997. The inscriptions are as follows: Tablet One: "Her hviler Terkild Olsen, Etatsraad Ridder af Dannebrog Født den 7 Februar 1784, død den 26 Juni 1849 og Hustru Regine Frederikke Malling, født den 7 August 1778, død den 15 April 1856. Saa siger Herren Frygt ikke! Thi jeg er med dig Jeg vil føre din slaegt fra Østen og samle dig fra Vesten Jeg vil sige til Norden giv hid! og til Syden hold ikke tilbage! Bring mine sønner langt fra og mine døtre fra Jordens Ende [Isaiah 43, 5-6]. Tablet Two: Her Hviler Johan Frederik Schlegel, Geheimeconferentsraad S.K. DBMD. [Stor Kors Dannebrogsmand] Født den 22 Januar 1817, død den 8 Juni 1896. Og Hustru Regina Schlegel født Olsen, født den 23 Januar 1822, død den 18 Marts 1904.

Residence - Kierkegaard's places of:
Nytorv 2 (now 27): 5.5.1813 - October 1837. Løvstraede 7: Autumn 1837 - April 1838. Nytorv 2: April 1838 - 1839; Kultorvet 11, 1. sal: 1839 - 1840; Nørregade 38, 1. sal: 1840- 1844; Nytorv 2: October 1844 - Easter Day 1848 (sells house Dec. 24, 1847); Rosenborggade 9 (on corner with Tornebuskgade): April 1848 - October 1848; Rosenborggade 7: October 1848 - April 1850; Nørregade 35, 2. sal: April 1850 - April 1851; Østerbrogade (house called Dalen): April 1851 - 1852; Klaedeboderne 5 -6 = Skindergade 38, 1. sal: 1852 - 2 October 1855. Frederiks Hospital 1. sal, now Kunstindustrimuseum, Bredgade: 2 October - 11 November 1855. (See also Moving Day).

Saedding Church - memorial boards:
Saedding Church is near Ringkøbing and Skjern, Jutland: On wooden wall boards in the church is written: First board: Til taknemmeligt Minde / om sit afdøde Söskendebarn / Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard / født i Seding 1756 død i Kj&oslah;benhavn d: 9 August 1838 / sin Ungdoms Veileder og Bistand, Seding Skoles / Velgjører, har M: A: Kierkegaard stiftet et Legat / Michael Pedersen Kierkegaards Minde / kaldet, idet han i Kongens Kasse, har indsat 1250 Rbd / i 4 proCt: kongl: Obligationer hvis aarlige Rente haeves / hver 11te Juni Termin paa Ringkjöbing Amtstue, og deles / i 7 Portioner saaledes, at de 6 uddeles til Nödlidende, Syge / og Traengende, der ere fødte eller i over 20 aar hjemmhö / rende i Seding Sogn, nemlig 3 Portioner a 7 Rbd og 3 do a / 5 Rbd aarlig, den 7de Portion 12 Rbd tilfalder Skolen i Sognet. / Fundatsen som gjemmes i Ribe Stifts geistlige Archiv / er dateret d: 10 October 1843 kongelig confirmeret d. 9: Novbr: / 1843 tinglaest ved Bölling Herredsting d: 11 April 1844 indfört / i Bölling og Seding Praestes Embedsprotocol d: 24 April 1844 / staaer under Biskoppens og Herredsprovstens Tilsyn.
Second board: Til varig Erindring om den vaerdige Olding / Niels Andersen Seding / födt her i Seding Bye i Steengaard / 1720, d*d 1796 i Kiobenhavn, hvor / han i over 50 Aar var Borger og / Hosekraemmer, har hans Söstersön / Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard, / stiftet et Legat ünder Navn af: / Niels Sedings Minde / idet han har indsadt i Rangens Kasse / 3000 Rbdr Sölv, hvis aarlige Renter haeves paa / Ringkiöbing Amtstue, og hvis Hovedbestemmelse / er at lönne en düelig Skolelaerer i Seding Sogn.
Fundatsen, som giemmes i Ribestifts/ geistlige Archiv, er dateret 15 October 1821;/ Kongelig confirmeret 5 December 1821;/ Tinglaest ved Bölling Herredsting 8de / Januarii 1822; Indfört i Bölling og /Seding Praestes' Embedsbog 8 Januarii 1822.
Staaer under Biskoppens / og Amtsprovstens Tilsyn.
Note: Clergy in Saedding Church: 1724-1751 Nicolai Joachimsen Lütken; 1751-1782 Nicolai Pedersen Satterup; 1782-1787 Peder Jacobsen Satterup; 1819-1828 Frederik Christian Jordan; 1828-1843 Jens Andreas Thouboe.
Books: A. M. Baarris: Søren Kierkegaard og Vest Jylland, 1950. Handelsmand Jens Andersen og hans slaegt paa Astrupgaard. Eget Forlag, 1952.

University Exams in Kierkegaard's time:
Cf. Pap. IV B 109-110, Johannes Climacus' "anden eksamen". When a pupil left school and was going to university, the university received a school testimony and a school evaluation (2 documents). See for example, Thulstrup, Breve og Aktstykker vedrørende Søren Kierkegaard, 1952, I-II, I, documents V and VI and especially notes to VII and VIII in II, p. 5. Cf. also the corresponding documents and notes in Hong: KW XXV, Letters and Documents. The final school student exams (that would qualify one to go further to university) were taken at the university itself. See here, Pap. vol. I, Tidstavle (first page of this), where S.K. is on October 30th "indskrevet som Student ved Universitet (laud: Udarbejdelse i Modersmaalet, Graesk, Historie; Fransk: laud. p.c.". This must have made up the first exam. The "anden eksamen" - second exam - consisted of two parts. April 25th, 1831, S.K. completed the first part of the second exam: Latin, Greek, Hebrew, History: laud. Mathematics: laud. p.c. On October 27th, 1831, he completed the second part of the second exam: philosophy, physics, mathematics: laud. p.c. The Examen philosophicum formed a part of the second exam. See Meyer's Fremmed Ordbog under 'Philosophie'.
The entire series of exams had to be passed successfully before a student was regarded as a full member of the university, i.e. became an ordinary graduate. Thus, it is correct that Johannes Climacus - Hong: KW VII, Philosophical Fragments, p. 123, "took the qualifying examination" or graduated. Note: there are no mss. of S.K.'s answers to his written examination of 1840.

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IV. KIERKEGAARD LANGUAGE QUESTIONS:

Here one must warmly recommend the coming new 4th edition of Kierkegaard's writings (KS) as a source of help with Kierkegaard texts. Note that each volume of KS has an accompanying commentary volume published with it.

Djaevelen:
" Det er maerkeligt, at Djaevelen[...]" Pap. II A 615. Where is the rest of this entry? The entry does not exist in the Kierkegaard Archive, Copenhagen. It was destroyed by - Barfod? - following the habit sometimes followed in previous times of throwing away mss. once a work was printed. (There were two lists, Lund's and Barfod's, indicating a number of entries). So one can encounter a list of entries where the entries themselves are seemingly absent. Often (on Barfod's list) he gives the beginning of an entry in Kierkegaard's Papirer. When the publishers of Pap. use [...] after the introductory words of an entry from Barfod's list, it is because they think that the words may be the beginning of a longer piece now lost - they cannot be sure that the words they have indicate the whole original entry. Therefore the entry "Det er maerkeligt, at Djaevelen" is found only on Barfod's list and not in S.K.'s mss. or printed in Barfod's edition of Pap. [EP.]. See here, Pap. I, p. XVI-XVII (Fortale), isaer s. XVI.

Tilstaae:
"Det du har at gøre er saa ubetinget at tilstaae Dig det selv, at Du fremfor Alt bevarer Ydmygheden og Frygt og Baeven i Forhold til hvad det vil sige i Sandhed at vaere Christen." SV 1st edition, XII, Indøvelse i Christendom, p. 62. "What you have to do therefore, is unconditionally to admit this to yourself so that above all else you preserve...". The problem word in these lines is "saa". It might have gone with 'ubetinget' "saa ubetinget" = absolutely unconditionally (helt ubetinget), but on balance, the sense of the sentence in reading, best suits a pause after 'saa', "What you have to do then" (or "therefore").
'det'='dette' - what went before these lines: you must admit you can't bear the situation of contemporaneity, Christ being mocked, etc.
'tilstaae Dig det selv' - a rather odd position of words. One would expect 'tilstaae det for dig selv'. S.K. is probably influenced by this latter use and by stylistic feeling. One could also use 'tilstaae dig selv det.'

Troen, at opgive:
At the beginning of Concluding Unscientific Postscript is 'Troen' 'Faith' or 'the Faith'?
See Concluding Unscientific Postscript, tr. David F. Swenson & Walter Lowrie, Princeton University Press 1941, 1968, 1971, p. 31, and compare with Hong: KW XII, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, p. 30; SV 1st edition, VII, Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift, p. 19.
Kierkegaard has "var han [the believer] ifaerd med at opgive Troen". Lowrie in his translation from 1941 has: "he would have been on the verge of giving up his faith. Hong, has: "he would be on the verge of abandoning the faith" [i.e., Christianity]. The emphasis in both translations seems to be on the content of faith rather than on the idea of abandoning the activity of faith for the activity of trying to arrive at certainty.

Vaesentlig/vaesentligen:
"Revolutions-Tiden er vaesentlig lidenskabelig" and "Revolutions-Tiden er vaesentligen lidenskabelig" (adverbial "vaesentligen"), SV 1st edition, VIII, En Literair Anmeldelse, p. 58-63.
Why does Kierkegaard use both versions in these pages? The reason seems to be one of aesthetic feeling for language. 'Vaesentligen' is heavier and more old-fashioned than 'vaesentlig' and S.K. is likely to have chosen it because of rhythms in the language. The meaning is the same.
Note that S.K. uses the -en form in other places. S.K. also leaves out the adverbial 't' in places.

Udelukker, Enten-Eller I, SV 1st edition, I, p. 46-47:
"...den [Musikken] viser sig i strengere Forstand som en christelig Kunst, eller rettere som den Kunst, Christendommen saetter, iden den udelukker den fra sig og derved saetter." Se Christian Molbech: Dansk Ordbog, København, 1859, under 'Udelukke': "Nøde Een til at blive ude, ved at lukke for ham; figurl. Ikke tage Een med i Lod og Deel, undtage fra, naegte Deel i." Molbech illustrerer med nogle eks. Se sp. 1333-34. Sagen her i Enten-Eller også har at gøre med faktum at Sandseligheden gør sig selv til princip. Christendommen viser/definerer/saetter Sandseligheden i modsaetningen til sig selv og udelukker den. Don Giovanni er kødets inkarnation her (i hel stykket), og Christendommen virker i forhold til Sandseligheden ligesom den gør med åbenbaringen af Synd-tilstanden. I baggrunden ligger drøftelsen af Don Giovanni-sagnet og Middelalderen, hvor Christendommen blev fremhaevet som asketisk med en staerk kødet-ånden polaritet/modsaetning. Sandseligheden er a-moralsk, spontan kraft, indtil den traeffer Christendommen og vil stå imod den som princip.

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Copyright © Julia Watkin 1996. All rights reserved.
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