“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.” - Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813-1855).

In a way, it is true. For something in life, we may not understand it at the time we live our life. We may not understand why it happens in the way it does at the time, but we have to live with it and live it! When looking back afterward in our life, it starts to make sense in our mind and heart and we start to understand why it happened that way and why we have got to where we are right now because of it. Life must be lived forward; otherwise, we may not understand certain things in life if we get stuck in the past or present.


Soren Kierkegaard is a Danish philosopher and writer I came across when I was in my early 20’s. He was the first philosopher I fell in love with because of his contemplative mind and deep thoughts. He questioned about life and the meaning of its existence. He searched for life’s meaning. He stressed the importance of the self, and its relation to the world by self-reflection and introspection.

In his time, he strongly criticized both the Hegelianism and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Danish church. Much of his work deals with religious problems such as the nature of faith, the institution of the Christian Church, Christian ethics and theology, and the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with life choices.

Many “discovered” him and liked him only a century later, in the 20th century. And many regarded him as the father of existentialism, an existentialist, a neo-orthodoxist, a postmodernist, a humanist, an individualist, etc. Because of his deep thought spanning across philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, he is regarded as a highly significant and influential figure in contemporary thought.

Those who are interested in his life and existentialism may click here and here. The most complete is here, A Primer On Kierkegaardian Motifs and here, an Existential Primer. These links will serve as a brief introduction to him as a philosopher and his philosophy existentialism.

By the way, much of his philosophical thoughts is found on his paper-based blog - his journal.