The 34 best phrases of Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges (Buenos Aires, 1899 - Geneva, 1986) was one of the most prominent Latin American writers of the 20th century.
His unique prose made this Argentine of illustrious origin already in his time an author worthy of analysis and study. He came out loud to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, although he never won it, probably because of his right-wing ideals. Yes, he obtained, among many other distinctions, the Miguel de Cervantes Prize.
Related Posts:
- "70 very inspiring phrases of poets"
- "30 great phrases by Fernando Pessoa, the famous Portuguese writer"
Borges's most famous phrases
In this article we are going to know the most famous phrases of Borges. They are famous quotes that we have extracted both from his numerous books, as well as from interviews and conferences.
1. You have to be careful when choosing your enemies because you end up looking like them.
If we confront someone, it is likely that we end up adopting their same defense strategies. Great reflection.
2. Let each man build his own cathedral. Why live off foreign and old works of art?
An ode to self realisation and not to be carried away by the conquests of the past.
3. Universal History is that of a single man.
A phrase for free interpretation.
4. Perhaps there are enemies of my opinions, but I myself, if I wait a while, I can also be an enemy of my opinions.
It's just a matter of taking time to find weaknesses in your own thoughts ...
5. You are not what you are because of what he writes, but because of what he has read.
The greatness of reading is that it makes us wiser. Writing is just the logical consequence.
6. I don't know to what extent a writer can be revolutionary. For now, she is working with the language, which is a tradition.
A curious reflection that can make us think.
7. I would like to be brave. My dentist claims that I am not.
An ironic phrase of the great Borges.
8. "Always" is a word that is not allowed to men.
The mere conception of something eternal is, in itself, a utopia.
9. You are not ambitious: you are content to be happy.
How do you interpret this sentence by Borges?
10. There are communists who maintain that to be an anti-communist is to be a fascist. This is as incomprehensible as saying that not to be Catholic is to be Mormon.
A reduction to the absurd, on one of the fallacies most used to delegitimize the opinion of another person.
11. If we really saw the Universe, maybe we would understand it.
Perhaps we live too absorbed in ways of life that totally remove us from understanding what surrounds us.
12. How else can you threaten other than death? The interesting thing, the original thing, would be that someone threatens you with immortality.
Another irony of the Argentine genius.
13. We all walk towards anonymity, only the mediocre arrive a little earlier.
A solemn reflection on the unnecessary of fame.
14. Literature is nothing more than a directed dream.
On the conjunction between prose and building a castle in our own mind.
15. Death is life lived. Life is a death that comes.
About the future, the past, and its ultimate reality.
16. I think it is better to think that God does not accept bribes.
About the Church (and other religions) and its eagerness to accumulate wealth and goods.
17. I have not cultivated my fame, which will be fleeting.
A great phrase by Borges, always reluctant to the supposed honeys of fame and popular acceptance.
18. We are our memory, we are that chimerical museum of fickle shapes, that pile of broken mirrors.
Always great and creative, with this famous quote full of poetry.
19. Only what is gone is what belongs to us.
Perhaps in allusion to the place occupied by people and experiences that are no longer there, but that remain in our minds.
20. Happiness need not be transmuted into beauty, but misfortune does.
Intriguing reflection that can make us think.
21. Dollars: They are those reckless American bills that have different value and the same size.
On the value of money, very present in his work and little among his hobbies.
22. I am alone and there is no one in the mirror.
A certain nihilism floods this thought.
23. Time is the best anthologist, or the only one, perhaps.
An especially famous phrase that perfectly sums up the meaning of life.
24. Dreaming is the oldest aesthetic activity.
To recreate and to imagine realities that our unconscious draws.
25. You are in love when you realize that another person is unique.
About falling in love: something we have all felt at some time.
26. For the Argentine, friendship is a passion and the police a mafia.
A brief, uncomfortable portrait of the average Argentine citizen, in the eyes of the porteño.
27. I have ever suspected that the only thing without mystery is happiness, because it justifies itself.
A great reflection that could only come from the pen of the native writer from Buenos Aires.
28. Over the years I have observed that beauty, like happiness, is common. Not a day goes by when we are not, for an instant, in paradise.
Poetic and beautiful thought that can give us courage on a cloudy day.
29. I am not talking about revenge or forgiveness, forgetting is the only revenge and the only forgiveness.
Impressive his way of rationalizing and giving a positive outlet to these negative feelings.
30. The verb to read, like the verb to love and the verb to dream, does not support 'the imperative mood'.
"The letter, with blood enters" would be, according to Borges, a tremendous error of our educational system.
31. I committed the worst sin one can commit. I have not been happy.
Tormented and lonely, Borges lamented that he had not lived with more enthusiasm.
32. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't listen to the radio, I don't take drugs, I eat little. I would say that my only vices are Don Quixote, The Divine Comedy, and not reading Enrique Larreta or Benavente.
About his few but curious vices.
33. Fatherhood and mirrors are abominable because they multiply the number of men.
A brushstroke of his misanthropy.
34. Tyrannies foment stupidity.
Simple but vehement phrase charging against dictatorships.
