The quote “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards” is commonly attributed to Soren Kierkegaard. However, there is little evidence to suggest that this exact quote occurs in his literary work. On the other hand, the quote may be attributed to him because of what he wrote in his personal journal. In this journal, Soren starts out by mentioning what a teacher once said about one of his pupils;
He is going backward, but not without great diligence.
Later he relates this statement of the teacher to his own life and states;
… for I am applying myself very diligently, am extremely busy and hard-working, and I am going backwards for sure, and it is also certain that the more diligent I am the more I go backwards-thus I am in truth going backwards with great diligence. In this way, I hope to enter into eternity, and from a philosophical point of view how would it be possible to enter into eternity except by going backwards; from an essentially Christian point of view, how would it be possible to enter into eternity except through the backward movement of one’s affairs.
The above passage is taken from volume IV of the journals of Soren Kierkegaard. It was written around 1843 and published after his death under his name, titled Soren Kierkegaard: Journals and Papers.
The quote in question is just an extract of the above-mentioned excerpt of Kierkegaard.
So, now we know for sure that Kierkegaard didn’t say the exact words of the quote. Rather it is just one of the interpretations of his words.
Who was Soren Kierkegaard
Soren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) – Danish philosopher, poet, religious author and theologian is considered one of the greatest thinkers of the nineteenth century. As a cultural critic, he greatly influenced existentialism and protestant theology. He received his early education at a prestigious boy’s school and later attended the University of Copenhagen where he studied theology.
Kierkegaard is known commonly for his critique of Hegelianism. He was against the philosophy of Hegel that puts utmost reality not on things but mere ideas. He held the belief that real life cannot be understood with an abstract conceptual system. Kierkegaard is known famously as The Father of Existentialism because his literary work dealt mainly with the emphasis on individual existence. He explored many themes in his literature that served as the basis of Existentialist movement in the beginning of the 20th century.
When we look at the theological work of Kierkegaard, we find a major focus on Christian ethics, differences between man and God, the institute of the Church and purely objective proofs of Christianity. He held the belief that Christianity was not a doctrine to be taught but rather a life to be lived. He was of the opinion that to have a true Christian experience one has to work on their relationship with God and not just rely on external proofs of God.
What is the meaning of this quote?
Life can only be understood backwards …
The prior mentioned quote provides a unique yet meaningful approach to life. Where everyone tells us to focus on the future and work towards it, this quote tells us to look at our past experiences. Only by doing so, we can truly make sense of our present.
One of the ways that we can approach this, is by keeping track of things which in our daily life in a journal or a diary. Not only can this help us work through some of our ongoing issues effectively, but can also act as a memoir to all the mistakes that we have made as well, all the accomplishments we achieved as well as all the worries we had. In five years time we can look back on this diary, pause and reflect, to either realize how far we have come, or to reinforce some of those key lessons we learned.
Understand, that the person you are today is a sum total of all your past experiences. So, it is necessary that we take a few moments out of our lives to ponder upon our past and take out lessons from every hardship that was put in our way. Only through this retrospection, we can better understand ourselves and our lives.
But it must be lived forwards …
Where Kierkegaard used the word ‘only’ to highlight the importance of retrospection, he also used the term ‘must’ to emphasize that no matter the situation, we have to gather courage and move forward. This shows us that even when we are trying to learn a few things from our past, we must not get sucked into it. If we are not careful, we can find ourselves reliving the miseries of our former life. So, the key is to find balance in between.
Importance of learning from former experiences
Now that we know the right way to look at our past. Let’s have a look at this habit may be of benefit to us in our lives:
- Great insight – reflecting upon the past experiences widens your vision and helps you to identify repetitive patterns that others seem to miss
- Develop a thinking pattern where you always think about the end result or consequence of your actions or decisions. This gives you clarity and enables you to strategically plan towards achieving your goals.
- It helps you understand yourself better and makes you avoid situations that have been destructive for you in the past. As a result, you are able to prevent the problematic incidents from reoccurring.