The knight of infinite resignation is a concept Johannes de silentio uses to represent any person who has made one of the last big steps before becoming a knight of faith. Infinite resignation is a spiritual movement by which a person both gives up whatever in the world is most precious to them and reconciles themselves to the pain of that loss. Unlike a knight of faith, though, a knight of infinite resignation has no hope of ever getting back what they’ve given up in this world. Instead, they might look forward to getting it back in the spirit world, like in heaven. Because a knight of infinite resignation reconciles themselves to the pain of giving up what’s most precious to them, they don’t hold anger or resentment against God or the world—they just don’t believe that God will give them back whatever it was they gave up. They can even achieve greatness (as Kierkegaard explains, anyone can be great, but the greatest people are the ones who have faith) because people admire their infinite resignation, but to achieve the same level of greatness as a knight of faith they would have to make one more movement and embrace the absurd. In other words, they would have to leap into faith and start believing that, through God, they will get back whatever they’ve sacrificed in this world, no matter how impossible it seems.
Knight of Infinite Resignation Symbol Timeline in Fear and Trembling
