When I Don't Even Know What I Want (Revised and Enlarged Edition)

Author Jeon Seung-hwan · Publisher Book Romance · Published 2025-01-15 · ISBN 9791193937150

About the Book

★ Revised and Expanded Edition Celebrating 300,000 Copies Sold ★
★ Kyobo Bookstore's 'Book of the Year' ★
★ Million-selling author loved by 2.5 million readers ★
★ Exported to 6 countries overseas ★

"Why did I live so diligently? Without even knowing what I liked."
Selected from humanities, philosophy, history, poetry, novels, and essays,
150+ 'life sentences' that understand my heart.

On days when it feels like no one understands my heart. On days when even I don't know my own heart, so nothing comforts me and everything feels meaningless. Moments when I feel like there's no one I love, or no one who will love me. We often face these moments when everything feels futile and we feel alone, no matter what we do. What we, each of us lonely enduring our solitude, need, isn't it the truth that everyone else in the world is not so different from us? And perhaps, isn't it the fervent hope that this feeling might be connected to someone else?

『When I Don't Even Know What I Want』 unfolds beautiful sentences that stir the heart, melting our frozen hearts and accurately identifying and comforting minds that have not found solace anywhere. Through sentences carefully chosen from humanities, classics, philosophy, history, poetry, novels, and essays, which contain the life and deep thoughts of individuals, it illuminates the path ahead, gently holds our hand, and gives us the courage to stand up again.

Reading the words of Nietzsche, the philosopher who often listened to his inner self while walking, saying, "Thoughts come from the feet of the walking man"; Goethe, who conveyed the courage to live authentically, saying, "To lose courage is to lose everything"; Hesse, who taught the joy of willingly enduring life by saying, "Happiness and suffering are the whole of our lives"; and Hemingway, who conveyed steadfast hope by saying, "Man can be defeated," we will find small warmth returning to our side, restoring the strength to courageously walk forward step by step.

"May you live your unique life more bravely than anyone else."
Sentences of healing and hope that illuminate life and add strength and courage.

『When I Don't Even Know What I Want』 awakens the way to bravely live an authentic life through five stages of mind training. The first is to focus and look into my heart. It carefully examines where my sorrow and pain originate, what I most want to hear right now, and where I can find peace of mind. The second is to examine my present. By looking at seasons, daily life, and precious things, it makes us think about what makes us live the way we are now. The third is about relationships, discussing wise ways of forming connections with lovers, friends, and family, and appropriate distances between them. The fourth is to explore my unique world more deeply. It seeks ways to become a stronger self by examining the meaning and attitude of life, values, and perspectives on the world.

In the final stage, newly added to the revised and expanded edition, we honestly examine our hopes and desires. We discuss what kind of adult we want to be, what we want to add to our lives, how we ultimately want our lives to change, and how to transform life into positivity.

When you work hard every day but are not happy, if you deeply communicate with the sentences in this book and calmly listen to the voice of your heart, you will gradually begin to hear what you truly want.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Revised and Expanded Edition_ Towards each's light at each's pace
Introduction_ Quietly staying by my side

Part 1: When you listen to the voice of your heart
_Examining my heart

When a sad sound comes from the bottom of my heart
Sleepless nights
When I don't even know what I want
The right distance to heal wounds
Various forms of loneliness
Love without regrets
Hatred and anger are my strength
Great obsession
Shall we have a cup of tea?
Nights intoxicated by your story

Part 2: Wishing you walk bravely, step by step
_Examining my time

The season that keeps weighing on my mind
A day I want to walk without purpose
Love me like the first snow
Because I'm curious about your trivial daily life
Why? Because it's youth
Even when adulthood begins
It's okay not to be strong
Real travel is escaping daily life
Time to embark on an adventure right now
Life is memory
Living relationships, living memories
Faces that suddenly come to mind
Things that visit us in the deep night
The time of here and now

Part 3: Extending a hand, and grasping the hand extended
_Examining my relationships

Though I was always alone when I looked back
Stop playing the good child
Mother's name
Let's walk together in the same direction
You who love more are the stronger person
Even if every connection has an end
Come a little closer every day
When not afraid of misunderstanding

Part 4: As a confident, unshakable me
_Examining my world

Confidently and freely
To live is to face farewells
The courage to dream impossible dreams
Can one person be the meaning of my life?
How to swim in the sea of romance
And life becomes beautiful
You and I, we are together in this world

Part 5: To live as the me I desire
_Examining my desires

To you who are still quietly growing
The joy of willingly enduring life
Time that needs tenderness
If we, imperfect as we are, can reach each other
Things that only become visible when we stop
What I thought in the morning stillness

Conclusion_ Why life sentences, not life books
Source of 'Life Sentences'