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StillnessQuote

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

Søren Kierkegaard, journal entry, 1843

Philosophy

The story behind the card

Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher often called the father of existentialism, wrote this in his private journal in 1843, the year he published Either/Or. The full entry goes further than the famous line: the more one thinks it through, he says, the clearer it becomes that life can never be fully understood in time, because there is no moment when time stands still long enough to look back from. His journals were published only after his death in 1855.

Türkçe oku
Hayat ancak geriye bakılarak anlaşılır; ama ileriye doğru yaşanmak zorundadır.
Søren Kierkegaard, günlük notu, 1843

Varoluşçuluğun babası sayılan Danimarkalı filozof Kierkegaard bu cümleyi, Ya/Ya Da'yı yayımladığı 1843 yılında özel günlüğüne yazdı. Notun tamamı meşhur cümleden daha ileri gider: Üzerinde düşündükçe, der, hayatın zaman içinde hiçbir zaman tam olarak anlaşılamayacağı daha açık hâle gelir; çünkü geriye dönüp bakabilmek için zamanın durduğu tek bir an bile yoktur. Günlükleri ancak 1855'teki ölümünden sonra yayımlandı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Søren Kierkegaard
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