Horror and the Natural Man

“The child’s imperfection is, first, not to recognize the horrifying, and then, implicit in this, to shrink from what is not horrifying. So it is also with the natural man: he is ignorant of what is truly horrifying, yet is not thereby liberated from shuddering and shrinking—no, he shrinks from that which is not horrifying. It is similar to the pagan’s relationship to God: he does not recognize the true God, but to make matters worse, he worships an idol as God.”

Introduction, The Sickness Unto Death, p. 8