quotes

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic and religious author who is thought to be the father of existentialism. His writings span over various topics including psychology, Christianity, ethics, morality, and poetry. Among his many works there are two that stand out to me more than the others, The Sickness Unto Death and The Concept of Anxiety. Both of these works are more psychological in nature. The Sickness Unto Death was written in 1849 under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus. The book is about his concept of despair which he relates back to the Christian idea of original sin. The Concept of Anxiety was published in 1844 under the pseudonym Vigilius Haufniensis. Throughout the book he deals with anxiety which he describes as an unfocused fear or a "dizziness of freedom."Kierkegaard himself suffered from anxiety and throughout his life experienced great tragedy and loss. By the time Kierkegaard was 35, he had lost both his parents and all his brothers and sisters except for one. This for clear reasons leads him to struggle with what he called melancholy and what we moderns would call depression. This melancholy coupled with his anxiety provided him with an insider's understanding of the topics he wrote about. Below, you will find ten quotes from his most notable works The Sickness Unto Death, The Concept of Anxiety, Either/Or: A Fragment of Life, and The Journals of Kierkegaard.