Søren Kierkegaard

1813–1855

Philosophy and Christian theology

Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and writer whose work emphasized individual responsibility and becoming oneself. His explorations of faith, anxiety, and despair helped shape later existentialist thought.

Biography sources

Søren Kierkegaard · University of Copenhagen

In the Inner Garden

Dare

To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.

The Sickness Unto Death (1849) · popular paraphrase

The Kierkegaard Research Centre identifies this familiar wording as a paraphrase, not a verbatim quotation. The related passage is in The Sickness Unto Death, SKS 11, p. 150.

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