--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The truth must essentially be regarded as…" description: "\"The truth must essentially be regarded as in conflict with this world; the world has never been so good, and will never become so good that the majorit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/soren-kierkegaard-578_conflict_the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-a_714056.jpg" --- # The truth must essentially be regarded as in conflict with… ![“The truth must essentially be regarded as in conflict with this world; the world has never been so good, and will never become so good that the majority will desire the truth.” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/soren-kierkegaard-578_conflict_the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-a_714056.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/soren-kierkegaard-578_conflict_the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-a_714056.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/soren-kierkegaard-578_conflict_the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-a_714056.jpg) > “The truth must essentially be regarded as in conflict with this world; the world has never been so good, and will never become so good that the majority will desire the truth.” [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. Truth is often at odds with societal comfort; people prefer a pleasant illusion over harsh reality. **In simple terms:** Truth conflicts with comfort; people like easy lies. Key Takeaway Challenge complacency, seek honest insight. Themes truth society comfort illusion morality Mood reflective serious critical Type philosophical ethical motivational When to use this quote - political discourse - personal relationships - media consumption - education - leadership Key Concepts existentialism ethical tension Questions to Reflect On - Do you accept comforting falsehoods? - How can truth be shared without alienating others? A Different Perspective Truth can alienate and cause resistance if not presented sensitively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [That's the question: is truth an illusion, or is illusion truth, or are they essentially the same? Myself, I don't care what anybody says…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/that-s-the-question-is-truth-an-illusion-or-is-illusion-truth-or-are/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [With so much conflict in the world, space exploration can be a beacon of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-mcclain/with-so-much-conflict-in-the-world-space-exploration-can-be-a-beacon/) [Anne McClain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-mcclain/) > [For whatever reason, we like to focus on the 2 percent that's different, and most of the conflict in the world comes from that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/for-whatever-reason-we-like-to-focus-on-the-2-percent-that-s/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Nations are not communities and never have been. The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals the fierce conflicts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/nations-are-not-communities-and-never-have-been-the-history-of-any/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [There would be less conflict in this world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-tell/there-would-be-less-conflict-in-this-world/) [Nia Tellé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-tell/) > [The years after the millennium will see gathering conflict all over the world to the point where the United Nations will be overwhelmed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-icke/the-years-after-the-millennium-will-see-gathering-conflict-all-over/) [David Icke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-icke/) > [We are in conflict with the world; otherwise, there would be no necessity to put forth tremendous effort to meet the world and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishnananda-saraswati/we-are-in-conflict-with-the-world-otherwise-there-would-be-no/) [Krishnananda Saraswati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishnananda-saraswati/) > [We do not wonder that there is conflict in the world. There is now, and has been from the time that Cain slew Abel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/we-do-not-wonder-that-there-is-conflict-in-the-world-there-is-now-and/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [“We all have about 98 percent in common with each other. For whatever reason, we like to focus on the 2 percent that's different,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/we-all-have-about-98-percent-in-common-with-each-other-for-whatever/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Nothing that lived and breathed was truly objective—even in a vacuum, even if all that possessed the brain was a self-immolating desire for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/nothing-that-lived-and-breathed-was-truly-objective-even-in-a-vacuum/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [“We desire truth and find within ourselves only uncertainty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-desire-truth-and-find-within-ourselves-only-uncertainty/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There is one thing even more vital to science than intelligent methods; and that is, the sincere desire to find out the truth, whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-pierce/there-is-one-thing-even-more-vital-to-science-than-intelligent/) Charles Pierce > [“We make desire, not truth, the real clue to what’s valuable. If we desire something, then it has value; if not, we despise and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-webster/we-make-desire-not-truth-the-real-clue-to-what-s-valuable-if-we/) [John Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-webster/) > [The desire for truth is the highest of all desires, yet, it is still a desire. All desires must be given up for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/the-desire-for-truth-is-the-highest-of-all-desires-yet-it-is-still-a/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. We seek happiness, and find only misery and death. We cannot but desire truth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-desire-truth-and-find-within-ourselves-only-uncertainty-we-seek/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## 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 Conflict quotes > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [There is a conflict in the Middle East between two entities, and they're both right, each in their own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reuven-rivlin/there-is-a-conflict-in-the-middle-east-between-two-entities-and-they/) [Reuven Rivlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reuven-rivlin/) > [Conflict isn't negative, it just is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-crum/conflict-isn-t-negative-it-just-is/) [Thomas Crum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-crum/) > [I have lived in countries that were coming out of conflict: Ireland, South Africa, the Czech republic. People there are overflowing with energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-have-lived-in-countries-that-were-coming-out-of-conflict-ireland/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Africa, being the major target of colonial plunder, therefore becomes a major source of conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-horne/africa-being-the-major-target-of-colonial-plunder-therefore-becomes-a/) [Gerald Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-horne/) > [All drama is conflict. Without conflict, there is no action. Without action, there is no character. Without character, there is no story. And without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd-field/all-drama-is-conflict-without-conflict-there-is-no-action-without/) [Syd Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd-field/) > [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have a familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/these-are-all-good-things-i-said-but-no-one-knows-where-your-country/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/) [Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/) > [“While there is battle and hatred men have eyes for nothing save the fact that the enemy is the cause of all the troubles;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/while-there-is-battle-and-hatred-men-have-eyes-for-nothing-save-the/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/all-men-have-an-instinct-for-conflict-at-least-all-healthy-men/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [I didnt like the Survivor shows because of the mean-spirited aspect, and women certainly were part of whatever conflict they would create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lawrence/i-didnt-like-the-survivor-shows-because-of-the-mean-spirited-aspect/) [Sharon Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lawrence/) > [“How we traverse the space between us when conflict arises has a profound effect on the health and longevity of our relationships.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/how-we-traverse-the-space-between-us-when-conflict-arises-has-a/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) [Browse all 3,969 Conflict quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The truth must essentially be regarded as in conflict with this world; the world has never been so good, and will never become so good that the majority will desire the truth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Soren Kierkegaard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-as-in-conflict-with-this-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conflict" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-as-in-conflict-with-this-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/soren-kierkegaard-578_conflict_the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-a_714056.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/soren-kierkegaard-578_conflict_the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-a_714056.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/soren-kierkegaard-578_conflict_the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-a_714056.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The truth must essentially be regarded as in conflict with this world; the world has never been so good, and…” — 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": "The truth must essentially be regarded...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-as-in-conflict-with-this-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-truth-must-essentially-be-regarded-as-in-conflict-with-this-world/#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 } } ] } ```