“Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.”

—  Sören Kierkegaard

Swenson, 1959, p. 28
1840s, Either/Or (1843)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." by Sören Kierkegaard?
Sören Kierkegaard photo
Sören Kierkegaard 309
Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism 1813–1855

Related quotes

George Gordon Byron photo

“Hate is by far the greatest pleasure; men love in haste, but detest in leisure.”

George Gordon Byron (1788–1824) English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement
John Wesley photo

“I am always in haste, but never in a hurry.”

John Wesley (1703–1791) Christian theologian

As quoted in the "Saturday Review" (28 November 1874)
General sources
Source: John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology

Thomas Carlyle photo

“The panting breathless haste and vehemence of a man struggling in the thick of battle for life and salvation; this is the mood he is in!”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Prophet

Livy photo

“All things will be clear and distinct to the man who does not hurry; haste is blind and improvident.”

Livy (-59–17 BC) Roman historian

Book XXII, sec. 39
History of Rome

Theocritus photo

“Milk the ewe that thou hast, why pursue the thing that shuns thee?”

Theocritus ancient greek poet

Idyll 11, line 75; translation by Andrew Lang, from Theocritus, Bion and Moschus Rendered into English Prose ([1880] 1901) p. 63.
Idylls

“My mistake has too often been that of too much haste. But it is not the people’s way to hurry, nor is it God’s way either. Hurry means worry, and worry effectually drives the peace of God from the heart.”

James O. Fraser (1886–1938) missionary to China, inventor of Tibeto-Burman Nosu alphabet

Souce: Geraldine Taylor. Behind the Ranges: The Life-changing Story of J.O. Fraser. Singapore: OMF International (IHQ) Ltd., 1998, 189.

Adlai Stevenson photo

“A wise man does not try to hurry history. Many wars have been avoided by patience and many have been precipitated by reckless haste.”

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) mid-20th-century Governor of Illinois and Ambassador to the UN

Speeches of Adlai Stevenson (1952), p. 39

Theodor Mommsen photo

“Catilina in particular was one of the most nefarious men in that nefarious age. His villanies belong to the criminal records, not to history; but his very outward appearance - the pale countenance, the wild glance, the gait by turns sluggish and hurried - betrayed his dismal past. He possessed in a high degree the qualities which are required in the leader of such a band - the faculty of enjoying all pleasures and of bearing all privations, courage, military talent, knowledge of men, the energy of a felon, and that horrible mastery of vice which knows how to bring the weak to fall, and how to train the fallen to crime.”

Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer

Vol. 4, Pt. 1, Translated by W.P. Dickson
On the Praetor Lucius Catilina
The History of Rome - Volume 4: Part 1

John Heywood photo

“Som thingis that prouoke young men to wed in haste,
Show after weddyng, that hast maketh waste.”

John Heywood (1497–1580) English writer known for plays, poems and a collection of proverbs

Some things that provoke young men to wed in haste,
Show after wedding, that haste makes waste.
Part I, chapter 2.
Proverbs (1546)

William Congreve photo

“Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure;
Married in haste, we may repent at leisure.”

William Congreve The Old Bachelor

Act V, scene viii. Compare: "Who wooed in haste, and means to wed at leisure", William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act iii, scene 2
The Old Bachelor (1693)

Related topics