The gods were bored, and so they created man  

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The gods were bored, and so they created man is a dictum by Søren Kierkegaard recorded in Either/Or (1843).

"Surely no one will prove himself so great a bore as to contradict me in this. . . . The gods were bored, and so they created man. Adam was bored because he was alone, and so Eve was created. Thus boredom entered the world, and increased in proportion to the increase of population. Adam was bored alone; then Adam and Eve were bored together; then Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel were bored en famille; then the population of the world increased, and the peoples were bored en masse. To divert themselves they conceived the idea of constructing a tower high enough to reach the heavens. This idea is itself as boring as the tower was high, and constitutes a terrible proof of how boredom gained the upper hand.'

From a different translation:

Since boredom advances and boredom is the root of all evil, no wonder, then, that the world goes backwards, that evil spreads. This can be traced back to the very beginning of the world. The gods were bored; therefore they created human beings. Adam was bored because he was alone; therefore Eve was created. Since that moment, boredom entered the world and grew in quantity in exact proportion to the growth of population. Adam was bored alone; then Adam and Eve were bored en famille. After that, the population of the world increased and the nations were bored en masse. To amuse themselves, they hit upon the notion of building a tower so high that it would reach the sky. This notion is just as boring as the tower was high and is a terrible demonstration of how boredom had gained the upper hand. Then they were dispersed around the world, just as people now travel abroad, but they continued to be bored. And what consequences this boredom had: humankind stood tall and fell far, first through Eve, then from the Babylonian tower.

Dutch translation

"Verveling [is de] wortel [...] van alle kwaad. Dit kan men waarnemen van het begin van de wereld af aan. De goden verveelden zich, daarom schiepen ze de mensen. Adam verveelde zich omdat hij alleen was, daarom werd Eva geschapen. Van dat ongeblik af kwam de verveling in de wereld en nam in grootte toe exact naarmate de mensenmassa toenam. Adam verveelde zich in zijn eentje, vervolgens verveelden Adam en Eva zich samen, vervolgens verveelden Adam en Eva en Kaïn en Abel zich en famille, vervolgens nam de mensenmassa in de wereld toe en de volken verveelden zich en masse. Om zich te verstrooien kwamen zij op het idee een toren te bouwen, zo hoog, dat hij tot aan de hemel reikte. Dit idee is echter even vervelend als de toren hoog was en een gruwelijk bewijs hoezeer de verveling de overhand had gekregen. Daarop werden de mensen over de wereld verspreid, net zoals men nu naar het buitenland reist, maar zij verveelden zich nog steeds." --tr. Jan Marquart Scholtz [1]