"The more a man can forget, the greater the number of metamorphoses which his life can undergo; the more he can remember, the more divine his life becomes"

Kierkegaard’s statement juxtaposes the faculties of forgetting and remembering as forces that shape the form and depth of human life. Forgetting is not simply neglect but rather an active ability to release oneself from past experiences, allowing for transformation and renewal. With each act of forgetting, a person frees themselves from the weights of history, failures, and set identities, making space for change and fresh beginnings. This capacity for oblivion makes metamorphosis possible. Life, under the dominion of forgetting, becomes a continuous series of self-reinventions, a fluid journey in which one can adapt, reshape one’s character, and move forward unhindered by what has been.

On the other hand, the ability to remember deeply is viewed as the path to a more exalted, “divine” life. Memory in this sense is not merely recalling facts or experiences; it is a profound act of integrating the layers of one’s existence, cultivating wisdom and moral depth. To remember well is to sustain continuity of purpose and value. It knits together the past with the present, establishing a sense of identity, rootedness, and responsibility. Through memory, meaning is constructed. A life steeped in remembrance becomes less about surface-level change and more about spiritual coherence. Such a person carries an awareness of inherited traditions, promises, and sufferings, which brings gravitas and a sense of the sacred to everyday existence.

Kierkegaard suggests a dynamic tension: the art of living is found between willful metamorphosis through forgetting and the transformative persistence of memory. Too much forgetting erases the significance of existence, risking superficiality. Too much remembering petrifies the self, making transformation impossible. The truly human, and perhaps divine, task is to navigate between the two, knowing when to let go and when to hold fast, allowing both change and continuity to shape the narrative of one’s life.