All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art. Jorge Luis Borges More Quotes by Jorge Luis Borges More Quotes From Jorge Luis Borges You who read me, are You sure of understanding my language? Jorge Luis Borges languageunderstanding In the critic's vocabulary, the word "precursor" is indispensable, but it should be cleansed of all connotations of polemic or rivalry. The fact is that every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future." -- Essay: "Kafka and his Precursors Jorge Luis Borges vocabularyfactspast Reality favors symmetry. Jorge Luis Borges symmetryfavorsreality Beyond my anxiety, beyond this writing, Jorge Luis Borges anxietywaitingwriting When you come right down to it, opinions are the most superficial things about anyone Jorge Luis Borges superficial-thingssuperficialopinion Time, which despoils castles, enriches verses. Jorge Luis Borges castlesversestime Democracy is an abuse of statistics. Jorge Luis Borges abusedemocracygovernment A labyrinth of symbols... An invisible labyrinth of time. Jorge Luis Borges labyrinthinvisibletime We did meet forty years ago. At that time we were both influenced by Whitman and I said, jokingly in part, 'I don't think anything can be done in Spanish, do you?' Neruda agreed, but we decided it was too late for us to write our verse in English. We'd have to make the best of a second-rate literature. Jorge Luis Borges writingyearsthinking You may win your heart's desire, but in the end you're cheated of it by death. Jorge Luis Borges winningdesireheart Man's memory shapes Its own Eden within Jorge Luis Borges alzheimersmenmemories Every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future. Jorge Luis Borges polemicswritingpast The sea is an idiom I cannot decipher. Jorge Luis Borges decipheridiomsea Two aesthetics exist: the passive aesthetic of mirrors and the active aesthetic of prisms. Guided by the former, art turns into a copy of the environment's objectivity or the individual's psychic history. Guided by the latter, art is redeemed, makes the world into its instrument, and forges, beyond spatial and temporal prisons, a personal vision. Jorge Luis Borges objectivitymirrorsart Poetry springs from something deeper; it's beyond intelligence. Jorge Luis Borges deeperspring Time is the substance of which we are made Jorge Luis Borges substancemadeinspirational 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 other-worldschristianbelieve Reality is not always probable, or likely. But if you're writing a story, you have to make it as plausible as you can, because if not, the reader's imagination will reject it. Jorge Luis Borges imaginationwritingreality The things that are said in literature are always the same. What is important is the way they are said. Looking for metaphors, for example: When I was a young man I was always hunting for new metaphors. Then I found out that really good metaphors are always the same. Jorge Luis Borges huntingimportantmen There is no exercise of the intellect which is not, in the final analysis, useless. A philosophical doctrine begins as a plausible description of the universe; with the passage of the years it becomes a mere chapter if not a paragraph or a name in the history of philosophy. Jorge Luis Borges philosophicalexercisephilosophy
