---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an…"
description: "\"Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy…\" — Soren Kierkegaard"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/soren-kierkegaard-578_antipathy_dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an_157913.jpg"
---

#  Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic…

![“Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy…” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/soren-kierkegaard-578_antipathy_dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an_157913.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/soren-kierkegaard-578_antipathy_dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an_157913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/soren-kierkegaard-578_antipathy_dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an_157913.jpg)

> “Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy…”

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Sympathy and antipathy can be two sides of the same emotional response.

**In simple terms:** Compassion can coexist with dislike.

Key Takeaway

Recognize complex feelings in relationships.

Themes

philosophy emotion duality

Mood

thoughtful introspective

Type

philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

- personal relationships
- ethical dilemmas
- self‑reflection

Key Concepts

sympathy antipathy existentialism

Questions to Reflect On

- When have you felt both empathy and aversion?
- How do you reconcile conflicting emotions?

A Different Perspective

Human emotions are not always logically consistent.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Antipathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antipathy/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Sympathetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathetic/) [Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathy/)

## Related quotes

> [“You will usually find two kind of people around Some Sympathetic and Some Antipathetic and I'm not concerned with the former”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waqas-bin-ehsan/you-will-usually-find-two-kind-of-people-around-some-sympathetic-and/)

[Waqas Bin Ehsan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waqas-bin-ehsan/)

> [tasteful and colossal are - in movies, at least - basically antipathetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-kael/tasteful-and-colossal-are-in-movies-at-least-basically-antipathetic/)

[Pauline Kael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-kael/)

> [ “He had been dazzled. Because of the dazzling brightness, he had had to kill \[Seigen\]. All who had encountered Seigen had had their hearts… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takayuki-yamaguchi/he-had-been-dazzled-because-of-the-dazzling-brightness-he-had-had-to/)

[Takayuki Yamaguchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takayuki-yamaguchi/)

> [A woman may very well form a friendship with a man, but for this to endure, it must be assisted by a little physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-woman-may-very-well-form-a-friendship-with-a-man-but-for-this-to/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Nothing is more essential, than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/nothing-is-more-essential-than-that-permanent-inveterate-antipathies/)

[George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/)

> [Theoretically, we Mennonites do not even know what we look like, since a focus on our personal appearance is vainglorious. Our antipathy to vainglory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-janzen/theoretically-we-mennonites-do-not-even-know-what-we-look-like-since/)

[Rhoda Janzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-janzen/)

> [An aphorism is a mental exercise, psychical, logical, linguistic, spiritual, ritual, emotional and rational, it is a major conceptual and literary activity, a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/an-aphorism-is-a-mental-exercise-psychical-logical-linguistic/)

[William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/)

> [The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-americans-are-poor-haters-in-international-affairs-because-of/)

[Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/)

> [The thing about youthful offenders is that no one seems to care about them. Most people don't like adolescents - even the good ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-waldman/the-thing-about-youthful-offenders-is-that-no-one-seems-to-care-about/)

[Ayelet Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-waldman/)

> [Above all things the mass-mind is most bitterly resentful of superiority. It will not tolerate the thought of an elite; and under a political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-nock/above-all-things-the-mass-mind-is-most-bitterly-resentful-of/)

[Albert J. Nock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-nock/)

> [I do not dislike the French from the vulgar antipathy between neighboring nations, but for their insolent and unfounded air of superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/i-do-not-dislike-the-french-from-the-vulgar-antipathy-between/)

[Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/)

> [If people tell you what you really don't want to hear what's unpleasant-there's an almost automatic reaction of antipathy. You have to train yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-people-tell-you-what-you-really-don-t-want-to-hear-what-s/)

[Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/)

> [The double law of attraction and radiation or of sympathy and antipathy, of fixedness and movement, which is the principle of Creation, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/the-double-law-of-attraction-and-radiation-or-of-sympathy-and/)

[Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/)

> [“Our natures own predilections and antipathies alike strange. There are people from whom we secretly shrink, whom we would personally avoid, though reason confesses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/our-natures-own-predilections-and-antipathies-alike-strange-there-are/)

[Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/)

> [ANTIPATHY, n. The sentiment inspired by one's friend's friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/antipathy-n-the-sentiment-inspired-by-one-s-friend-s-friend/)

[Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/)

## More by Soren Kierkegaard

> [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [Christians remind me of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christians-remind-me-of-schoolboys-who-want-to-look-up-the-answers-to/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream-i-was-rapt-into-the/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [Be that self which one truly is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/be-that-self-which-one-truly-is/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [I go fishing for a thousand monsters in the depths of my own self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-go-fishing-for-a-thousand-monsters-in-the-depths-of-my-own-self/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant… My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-addition-to-my-other-numerous-acquaintances-i-have-one-more/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [Future is everything that past has forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/future-is-everything-that-past-has-forgotten/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [Without risk, faith is an impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/without-risk-faith-is-an-impossibility/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-only-one-confidant-and-that-is-the-silence-of-night/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [A road well begun is the battle half won. The important thing is to make a beginning and get under way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-road-well-begun-is-the-battle-half-won-the-important-thing-is-to/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [I have, I believe, the courage to doubt everything; I have, I believe, the courage to fight against everything; but I do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-i-believe-the-courage-to-doubt-everything-i-have-i-believe-the/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

[Explore all 462 Soren Kierkegaard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

## More Antipathy quotes

> [ANTIPATHY, n. The sentiment inspired by one's friend's friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/antipathy-n-the-sentiment-inspired-by-one-s-friend-s-friend/)

[Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/)

> [“Our natures own predilections and antipathies alike strange. There are people from whom we secretly shrink, whom we would personally avoid, though reason confesses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/our-natures-own-predilections-and-antipathies-alike-strange-there-are/)

[Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/)

> [The double law of attraction and radiation or of sympathy and antipathy, of fixedness and movement, which is the principle of Creation, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/the-double-law-of-attraction-and-radiation-or-of-sympathy-and/)

[Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/)

> [If people tell you what you really don't want to hear what's unpleasant-there's an almost automatic reaction of antipathy. You have to train yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-people-tell-you-what-you-really-don-t-want-to-hear-what-s/)

[Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/)

> [I do not dislike the French from the vulgar antipathy between neighboring nations, but for their insolent and unfounded air of superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/i-do-not-dislike-the-french-from-the-vulgar-antipathy-between/)

[Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/)

> [Above all things the mass-mind is most bitterly resentful of superiority. It will not tolerate the thought of an elite; and under a political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-nock/above-all-things-the-mass-mind-is-most-bitterly-resentful-of/)

[Albert J. Nock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-nock/)

> [The thing about youthful offenders is that no one seems to care about them. Most people don't like adolescents - even the good ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-waldman/the-thing-about-youthful-offenders-is-that-no-one-seems-to-care-about/)

[Ayelet Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-waldman/)

> [The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-americans-are-poor-haters-in-international-affairs-because-of/)

[Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/)

> [An aphorism is a mental exercise, psychical, logical, linguistic, spiritual, ritual, emotional and rational, it is a major conceptual and literary activity, a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/an-aphorism-is-a-mental-exercise-psychical-logical-linguistic/)

[William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/)

> [Theoretically, we Mennonites do not even know what we look like, since a focus on our personal appearance is vainglorious. Our antipathy to vainglory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-janzen/theoretically-we-mennonites-do-not-even-know-what-we-look-like-since/)

[Rhoda Janzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-janzen/)

> [Nothing is more essential, than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/nothing-is-more-essential-than-that-permanent-inveterate-antipathies/)

[George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/)

> [A woman may very well form a friendship with a man, but for this to endure, it must be assisted by a little physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-woman-may-very-well-form-a-friendship-with-a-man-but-for-this-to/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [ “He had been dazzled. Because of the dazzling brightness, he had had to kill \[Seigen\]. All who had encountered Seigen had had their hearts… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takayuki-yamaguchi/he-had-been-dazzled-because-of-the-dazzling-brightness-he-had-had-to/)

[Takayuki Yamaguchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takayuki-yamaguchi/)

> [Our prejudices, our antipathies, are our natural defenses against what we could not assimilate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-clifford-barney/our-prejudices-our-antipathies-are-our-natural-defenses-against-what/)

[Natalie Clifford Barney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-clifford-barney/)

> [“For the same sentiment of antipathy, if implicitly deferred to, may be, and very frequently is, productive of the very worst effects. Antipathy, therefore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-bentham/for-the-same-sentiment-of-antipathy-if-implicitly-deferred-to-may-be/)

[Jeremy Bentham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-bentham/)

[Browse all 82 Antipathy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antipathy/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy…",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Soren Kierkegaard"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an-antipathetic-sympathy/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Antipathy"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an-antipathetic-sympathy/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/soren-kierkegaard-578_antipathy_dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an_157913.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/soren-kierkegaard-578_antipathy_dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an_157913.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/soren-kierkegaard-578_antipathy_dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an_157913.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy…” — Soren Kierkegaard",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Soren Kierkegaard",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an-antipathetic-sympathy/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an-antipathetic-sympathy/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
