Quote

"A sincere faith. What more loathsome combination is possible than love -- and falsity! Yet this combination is impossible, for to love falsely is to hate. This is true not only of falsity, but it is impossible to reconcile the least lack of honesty with loving. As soon as there is a lack of honesty, there is also something concealed. In this concealment hides selfish self-love, and inasmuch as this is present in a man he does not love. In honesty the lover presents himself before the beloved. No mirror is as accurate as honesty in catching the smallest trifle, if it is true honest, or if the lovers express themselves with true faithfulness in the mirror of honesty which love holds between them.

But if two people can thus in honesty become transparent to each other, is it not somewhat arbitrary of Christianity to talk about sincere faith in another sense, insofar as it thereby means honesty before God? If two people are to love each other in sincere faith, is not a prior requirement in each individual of honesty before God just what is needed? Is it dissimulation only when a man consciously deceives others or himself? I wonder if it is not also dissimulation when a man does not know himself. And can such a person promise love out of sincere faith, or can he -- hold to what he promises? To be sure he can, but if he cannot promise, can he hold to what he cannot even promise? And a person who does not know himself cannot promise love out of sincere faith." -- Kierkegaard