"Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth - look at the dying man's struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment"

Søren Kierkegaard evokes two of the most primal human experiences: childbirth and death. A woman's labor cry and a man's agony in dying mark the bookends of existence. Neither is romanticized. The pain of birth shatters notions of serene beginnings, while the suffering in death challenges any illusion of gentle endings. These vivid, raw moments expose the realities that frame human life. Kierkegaard uses these extremities to provoke a deeper contemplation about the nature of existence and the pursuit of happiness.

When one is confronted with such moments of acute suffering at both entrance and exit, it becomes difficult to maintain a simplistic belief that life is primarily about pleasure or enjoyment. The argument here works not from abstract philosophy but from the lived, observing perspective. The drama of birth and death calls into question ideas of life as a comfortable or joyful project designed for human satisfaction. Instead, human experience seems defined by struggle, vulnerability, and pain. These are not exceptions but universals, bracketing every individual’s journey.

Kierkegaard challenges the optimism of thinking of life as merely something to be enjoyed, suggesting a far more complex and perhaps tragic view. The suffering inherent to being born and dying may point to a deeper meaning or purpose, one that transcends the pursuit of pleasure alone. The immense effort and anguish in entering and leaving life might impart that existence is to be engaged with earnestly, not trivialized as a mere quest for enjoyment. There is an existential seriousness lurking beneath all our endeavors because they begin and end with struggle. In grappling with these realities, Kierkegaard hints at a seriousness to human purpose, perhaps gesturing toward the spiritual or ethical significance that suffering bestows upon life, suggesting that genuine fulfillment may lie in confronting, rather than fleeing, these unavoidable truths.