In Kierkegaard's earlier works are found the germ
of some
of Buber's most important early and later ideas: the direct relation between the individual and God in which the individual addresses God as «Thou,» the insecure and exposed state
of every individual as an individual, the concept
of the «knight
of faith» who can not take shelter in the
universal but must constantly risk all in the concrete uniqueness
of each new situation, the
necessity of becoming a true person before going out to relation, and the importance
of realizing one's belief in one's
life.
«The loss
of so important an aid to the intelligent and
living apprehension
of a truth, as is afforded by the
necessity of explaining it to, or defending it against, opponents, though not sufficient to outweigh, is no trifling drawback from, the benefit
of its
universal recognition.