“There are, as is known, insects that die in the moment of fertilization. So it is with all joy: life’s highest, most splendid moment of enjoyment is accompanied by death.”
Søren Kierkegaard
The quote comes from the Diapsalmata, a collection of aphorisms that opens Either/Or (1843). Kierkegaard published the book under the pseudonym Victor Eremita, and within it the Diapsalmata are attributed to a further fictional figure called “A,” a young aesthete. Kierkegaard deliberately used such pseudonyms to signal that these viewpoints were not necessarily his own.
Either/Or (Primary source)
Either/Or, published under the pseudonym Victor Eremita (“victorious hermit”), presents a dialectical exploration of two contrasting life views: the aesthetic and the ethical.
“Most people rush after pleasure so fast that they rush right past it.”
— Søren Kierkegaard Primary source“Recollection is more richly satisfying than all actuality.”
— Søren Kierkegaard Primary source“Pleasure disappoints; possibility does not.”
— Søren Kierkegaard Primary source“Real enjoyment consists not in what one enjoys but in the idea.”
— Søren Kierkegaard Primary sourceMore quotes by Søren Kierkegaard →
“The joy of anticipation is the greatest.”
— Søren Kierkegaard Disputed“Death is a dreamless sleep.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte Disputed“Painting is a companion with whom one may hope to walk a great part of life’s journey.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“We must be our own [friend] before we can be another’s.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source