Sophie's World

by Jostein Gaarder

‘Isn’t there a risk of becoming too serious, living like that?’ ‘Decidedly! Kierkegaard never claimed that the ethical stage was satisfactory. Even a dutiful person will eventually get tired of always being dedicated and meticulous. Lots of people experience that sort of fatigue reaction late in life. Some relapse into the reflective life of their aesthetic stage. ‘But others make a new leap to the religious stage. They take the “jump into the abyss” of Faith’s “seventy thousand fathoms.” They choose faith in preference to aesthetic pleasure and reason’s call of duty. And although it can be “terrible to jump into the open arms of the living God,” as Kierkegaard put it, it is the only path to redemption.’