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Who really said it

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

Attributed to Søren Kierkegaard 1813–1855 · Danish philosopher & theologian
Attributed Rights unconfirmed

The idea is authentically Kierkegaard’s — it appears in his 1843 journal (entry JJ:167, older cataloguing IV A 164), preserved in Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter. But this crisp one-liner is a later condensed paraphrase. The standard translation by Alexander Dru reads “life must be understood backwards … it must be lived forwards,” folded into a longer sentence — not the tidy aphorism usually quoted. So: right author, real source, smoothed wording.

Last verified 16 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Unconfirmed quote & credit

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” Søren Kierkegaard, journal, 1843 (popular paraphrase; his actual line, trans. Alexander Dru: "life must be understood backwards … it must be lived forwards")

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

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In context

Evoking the world of Søren Kierkegaard — Danish philosopher, theologian & father of existentialism. Theme: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Source
Journal entry JJ:167 (older numbering IV A 164)
Written
1843, Copenhagen
Original language
Danish
Translation
Alexander Dru, The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard (Oxford Univ. Press, 1938)

It is perfectly true, as the philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards. Danish original

Alexander Dru’s 1938 translation of the 1843 journal entry. The popular one-line form — “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” — is a condensation of this, not a literal rendering.

Kierkegaard quote-source page (University of Iowa)

How we verified this

  • The exact source is a journal entry from 1843, catalogued JJ:167 (older numbering IV A 164) in Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter, vol. 18 ↗.
  • The Danish original reads “…Livet maa forstaaes baglænds … det maa leves forlænds,” standardly translated by Alexander Dru as “life must be understood backwards … it must be lived forwards” (WIST Quotations ↗).
  • Wikiquote ↗ lists the crisp popular wording among ‘variants’ and WIST labels it “commonly paraphrased” — confirming the aphorism is a later condensation, not Kierkegaard’s literal line.

Kierkegaard’s Danish journal entry dates to 1843 and its original text is long in the public domain. But the English wording shown is a translation matter: the standard translation by Alexander Dru was first published in 1938 and is in copyright, while the specific crisp popular phrasing is an anonymous condensation of uncertain origin. Because no single public-domain edition carries this exact wording, we do not assert public-domain status.

Fact-check

Right author, smoothed words

This is not a case of a stolen quote — the thought really is Kierkegaard’s. What has drifted is the wording: the internet’s tidy aphorism is a paraphrase of a longer, more tentative journal sentence.

A later condensed paraphrase Paraphrase

Kierkegaard’s actual sentence, in Alexander Dru’s 1938 translation, is “It is perfectly true, as the philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.” The crisp “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” is a smoothed later condensation, flagged as a paraphrase by both WIST ↗ and Wikiquote ↗.

The full journal thought Trimmed

The popular line drops Kierkegaard’s follow-on point — that life can never fully be understood in time because “at no particular moment can I find the necessary resting-place from which to understand it.” The aphorism keeps the neat symmetry and loses the doubt (quote-source page ↗).

The attribution to Kierkegaard is correct and the source is documented (journal entry JJ:167, 1843); the popular exact wording is a later condensed paraphrase rather than his literal words — see WIST’s note ↗.

Context

Why it resonates

Kierkegaard jotted this in a private journal in 1843, not for publication. It captures a genuine asymmetry of human experience: meaning tends to arrive in hindsight, yet we are forced to act while the future is still dark. That tension — understanding runs backward, living runs forward — is why the line reads as existentialist decades before the label existed.

In his fuller entry, Kierkegaard pushes further than the aphorism admits: because there is never a still ‘resting-place’ in time, life can never be completely understood even in retrospect. The popular one-liner keeps the elegant symmetry and quietly discards that unease.

Understood backwards, lived forwards — but, Kierkegaard adds, never fully understood at all.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Wisdom Time

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Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Kierkegaard quote-source pagehomepage.divms.uiowa.edu

Scholarly page tracing this exact quote to journal entry JJ:167 (IV A 164), 1843, with the Danish original.
Søren Kierkegaard — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Sourced section giving the Danish original, the Dru translation, and listing the popular short form as a variant.
WIST Quotations — Journals IV.A.164wist.info

Cites the 1843 journal entry and explicitly notes the crisp version is a common paraphrase.
Kierkegaard on living forwards — Philosophy Breakphilosophybreak.com

Accessible explainer on the quote's meaning and its place in Kierkegaard's thought.

The author

About Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard

1813–1855 · Danish philosopher, theologian & father of existentialism

Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a Danish philosopher and theologian, widely regarded as the first existentialist thinker. Alongside published works such as Either/Or and Fear and Trembling, he kept voluminous private journals; this reflection comes from a journal entry of 1843, the year of his most intense output. Many of his best-known ‘quotes’ circulate today in paraphrased forms drawn from those journals rather than as his exact words.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Søren Kierkegaard, journal entry JJ:167 (1843), in Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter, vol. 18, p. 306; trans. Alexander Dru, The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard (London: Oxford University Press, 1938), no. 465. Popular one-line form is a later condensed paraphrase.

MLA (9th ed.)

Kierkegaard, Søren. The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard. Translated by Alexander Dru, Oxford University Press, 1938, entry no. 465.

APA (7th ed.)

Kierkegaard, S. (1938). The journals of Søren Kierkegaard (A. Dru, Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Original work written 1843)

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/life-can-only-be-understood-backwards-but-it-must-be-lived

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