Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. - Soren Kierkegaard

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.

Soren Kierkegaard

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Life is Not a Problem to be Solved, But a Reality to be Experienced

How kierkegaard taught us about the absurdity of life.

The 19th-century Danish philospher, Søren Kierkegaard, is one of the best philosophers of all time. In his youth, he suffered quite a bit — with all his siblings passed save him and a brother. This incident led him to write voraciously over the course of the…

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Life Is Not a Problem To Be Solved, But A Reality to Be Experienced

life is not problem to be solved

According to Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” Kierkegaard, along with other philosophers like Alan Watts and Rainer Maria Rilke, have argued that when you seek the answers to life, you’re asking the wrong question. Life is something to be experienced, not something to be solved.

Before you get too excited—sorry, I don’t have the answer.

But I do know that people generally fall into a couple camps with this question.

Two approaches to the question “What’s the answer to life?”

For others, the answer is unknowable. It’s like expecting an ant to know who the president is: it’s too many layers beyond understanding.

Life exists to be experienced.

The meaning of life may be unknowable, and perhaps the question is absurd

If the question “What’s the meaning of your dog’s life,” sounds absurd, that’s because it’s intended to.

He’s here to be a dog, and he’s doing a damn fine job of being a dog.

Are you a human who’s experiencing life? Are you making mistakes, finding inspiration and creating, being brave and being afraid, lying and being honest, experiencing happiness and sadness , starting and then giving up and then trying again?

The meaning of life according to Søren Kierkegaard

Here’s what Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard had to say:

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”

The meaning of life according to Alan Watts

A similar take is found in this perspective from philosopher Alan Watts :

“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”

The meaning of life according to Rumi

Rumi shows the power of poetry to dance around big questions of meaning , questions that have a tendency to slip away when you try to address them head on:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase  each other doesn’t make any sense.”

The meaning of life according to Rainer Maria Rilke

No one addresses the futility of chasing answers to big questions better than Rainer Maria Rilke .

“Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything.  Live  the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

Living with purpose—even when you don’t have all the answers

Humans need meaning.

The security of knowing that you’re here to simply experience life.

My mindfulness practice kicked off in 2016 with a ten-day silent retreat . Since then, I’ve read dozens of books about mindfulness and completed hundreds of hours of meditation. Thinking about what makes humans happy, calm, and peaceful is endlessly fascinating to me.

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What is meant: "Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”

Does someone have some reliable source what was meant by quote by Søren Kierkegaard in the title? Can you elaborate? Does it mean for example I shouldn't think how to solve some problem, rather say go out and experience a nice walk for example?

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2 Answers 2

I don't think that's what the author meant by the quote at all. He's not dissuading us from thinking logically or analytically, but attempting to shift our focus from that of problem-solving to enjoying life .

As humans, we are natural thinkers and problem solvers. Our brains are wired to seek truth and to find solutions to questions and issues that arise throughout our time here on this earth.

The trap many philosophers seem to find themselves in is one of constant pondering. Sure, everything can and should be open to intellectual debate, but is this the true purpose of our experience?

Instead of thinking about why the grass feels the way it does on our bare feet, we should simply quiet our minds and enjoy the fleeting moment for what it is.

Zach Gentner's user avatar

Of course you should regard solving problems as your serious main business, while enjoying life as a vacation period after long persistent effort drowning in your business. As Farady once famously said: the strong prove, the weak enjoy... Also anyway, aren't problems must also be reality to be experienced? Otherwise it's just a fake manufactured "problem".

Don't read too much words into you heart, different people have different or even opposite styles and ways to express similar innate ideas. The real issue I observed from my experience is people will easily attach too much importance, value, and ego into their main business, their domain of problems, to such an extreme that they begin to overlook, disregard, and even say bad words to other people's totally different businesses. So under this context, a saint saying your above words are totally fine and appropriate. But we all know a saint's major job is to solve other people's sufferings (problems)...

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Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. – Soren Kierkegaard

Meaning of this quote:

Things don’t always work smoothly, issues are going to happen, accepting them is what makes it easier. Accept the reality because without accepting it we can’t improve it.

Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced, which means, life is not a problem, but life is a series of a moment. Life is the present which we experience in the present moment.

It’s all about experiencing reality, whether it’s tasteful or not. It’s just a series of events. Life is like a rollercoaster, It has ups and downs.

Find the real purpose of your life

Remember, the purpose of life is not to be happy or sad.

To be Happy or Sad can’t be the goal, or it isn’t something which we can achieve. Rather it’s something that happens on its own based on how we experience life.

Happiness or Sadness is just an emotion, how we look at things defines how we going to feel.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. – Confucius

Life is not complicated, but we are. We overthink even the smallest things which doesn’t hold much value. By overthinking we ended up making everything complex.

Life is not hard, It’s our own thoughts and actions which make it so. Accept the reality, remember, we can’t change everything, and thus accepting the reality is the first step to making things simple.

Don’t blame yourself or others, don’t overthink about it, just accept it and keep trying until you achieve it.

Blaming or overthinking is not going to fix the problem nor It will help you to feel better. But, accepting the reality may do.

Celebrate your life

Life itself is a gift, don’t take it for granted. It has Ups and Downs, and It takes courage to enjoy both of them.

Each and every moment are a part of our life, make sure to live and feel them fullest.

Don’t take life too seriously, do what makes you happy and fulfilled, never forget to have fun. Be happy for everything, be grateful and never lose an opportunity to embrace yourself.

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. – Oprah Winfrey

Praise and celebrate your life, you attract positivity when you stop seeing even small things with a negative perspective.

Remember, you are going to feel anxious when you look at everything around you from a negative perspective.

Life is a journey, It’s meant to be experienced.

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"life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived": can you dig it by gail harris.

"Life Is Not a Problem to Be Solved, But a Mystery to Be Lived": Can You Dig It?

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived."

This quote from poet Nietzsche is quite profound, if you think about it. While written years ago, it’s timeless. To me, it says that when we make achievement and success the be-all-and-end-all of life, we miss the joy that comes from knowing that life is truly a mystery. 

Haven’t you noticed that the most meaningful times occur not when your goal is achieved, but when something unexpected happens? We spot our soul mate across the room. We find a personal message hidden in a billboard. We land the perfect career by accident. There’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. Ignore it. Or embrace the mystery, and have a heck of a lot more fun. Here’s how to begin:

OK, ladies and gentlemen. It’s up to you.

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life is not problem to be solved

In what book did Kierkegaard say “life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced”

life is not problem to be solved

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It’s Attributed to Kierkegaard in a number of books, the earliest on Google Books being the 1976 book Jack Kerouac: Prophet of the New Romanticism by Robert A. Hipkiss, p. 83 http://books.google.com/books?id=g_JaAAAAMAAJ&q=%22problem+to+be+solved%22#search_anchor . In the 1948 The Hibbert Journal: Volumes 46-47 the quote is referred to as "the famous Kierkegaardian slogan" on p. 237 http://books.google.com/books?id=UuDRAAAAMAAJ&q=%22the+famous+Kierkegaardian+slogan+life+is+not+a+problem+to+be+solved%22#search_anchor , which may be intended to suggest the phrase is Kierkegaard-esque rather than being something written by Kierkegaard. In reality this seems to be a slightly altered version of the quote "The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved; it is a reality to be experienced" which appeared in the 1928 book The Conquest of Illusion by Jacobus Johannes Leeuw, p. 9 http://books.google.com/books?id=OFdVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22not+a+problem+to+be+solved%22#search_anchor .

Source: https://quotepark.com/quotes/768266-soren-kierkegaard-life-is-not-a-problem-to-be-solved-but-a-reality/

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