The man who acquires an encyclopedia does not thereby acquire every line, every paragraph, every page, and every illustration; he acquires the possibility of becoming familiar with one and another of those things.
JORGE LUIS BORGESThe possibilities of the art of combination are not infinite, but they tend to be frightful.
More Jorge Luis Borges Quotes
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Writing long books is a laborious and impoverishing act of foolishness: expanding in five hundred pages an idea that could be perfectly explained in a few minutes. A better procedure is to pretend that those books already exist and to offer a summary, a commentary.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
What I’m really concerned about is reaching one person. And that person may be myself for all I know.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
Time is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
I suppose identity depends on memory. And if my memory is blotted out, then I wonder if I exist – I mean, if I am the same person. Of course, I don’t have to solve that problem. It’s up to God, if any.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
The worst labyrinth is not that intricate form that can entrap us forever, but a single and precise straight line.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
Chang Tzu tells us of a persevering man who after three laborious years mastered the art of dragon-slaying. For the rest of his days, he had not a single opportunity to test his skills.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
Israelites, Christians and Muslims profess immortality, but the veneration they render this world proves they believe only in it, since they destine all other worlds, in infinite number, to be its reward or punishment.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
Democracy is an abuse of statistics.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
The mightiest love was granted him Love that does not expect to be loved.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
I saw a sunset in Queretaro that seemed to reflect the color of a rose in Bengal.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
A poet is a discoverer rather than an inventor.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
Beyond my anxiety, beyond this writing, the universe waits, inexhaustible, inviting.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
My undertaking is not difficult, essentially. I should only have to be immortal to carry it out.
JORGE LUIS BORGES -
Loneliness does not worry me; life is difficult enough, putting up with yourself and with your own habits.
JORGE LUIS BORGES






