Quotes from Jorge Luís Borges

The certitude that some shelf in some hexagon held precious books and that these precious books were inaccessible, seemed almost intolerable.

cabeza era un jirón más. En el crepúsculo

It was also possible that Villari was already dead, and then his life was a dream. That possibility disturbed him, because he couldn't quite figure out whether it felt like a relief or a misfortune; he told himself it was absurd, and he discarded it.

Yo soy el único espectador de esta calle; si dejara de verla se moriría

Whatsoever one man does, it is as though all men did it. That is why it is not unfair that a single act of disobedience in a garden should contaminate all humanity; that is why it is not unfair that a single Jew's crucifixion should be enough to save it.

Tú, que me lees, ¿estás seguro de entender mi lenguaje?

R?d?cina limbii este iraÈ›ional? È™i are un caracter magic. Danezul care articula numele lui Thor ori saxonul care articula numele lui Thunor nu È™tiau dac? aceste cuvinte însemnau zeul tunetului sau zgomotul care urmeaz? fulgerul. Poezia vrea s? se întoarc? la aceast? magie veche

Uno de los hábitos de la mente es la invención de imaginaciones horribles.

I suspect that the human species - the unique species - is about to be extinguished, but the Library will endure: illuminated, solitary, infinite, perfectly motionless, equipped with precious volumes, useless, incorruptible, secret.

Si el honor y la sabiduría y la felicidad no son para mí, que sean para otros. Que el cielo exista, aunque mi lugar sea el infierno.

I remember him (I have no right to utter this sacred verb, only one man on earth had that right and he is dead) with a dark passion flower in hand, seeing it as no one has ever seen it, though he might look at it from the twilight of dawn til that of evening, a whole lifetime.

If only some eternal book existed, primed for our enjoyment and whims, no less inventive in the populous morning than the secluded night, oriented toward all hours of the world. Your favourite books, reader, are like rough drafts of that book without a final reading. - Literary Pleasure

I suspect, nevertheless, that he was not very capable of thought. To think is to forget a difference, to generalize, to abstract. In the overly replete world of Funes there were nothing but details, almost contiguous details. The equivocal clarity of dawn penetrated along the earthen patio.

Glencairn, tal vez omnipotente en la ciudad que una firma al pie de un decreto le destinó, era una mera cifra en los engranajes de la administración del Imperio.

De sus labios oí por primera vez el nombre del rey que era, Gunnlaug. Supe que librada la última guerra, miraba con recelo a los forasteros y que su hábito era crucificarlos. Para eludir ese destino, menos adecuado a un hombre que a un Dios, ...

A veces anhelaba con impaciencia la definitiva descarga, que lo redimiría, mal o bien, de su vana tarea de imaginar

Posible, pero no interesante —respondió Lönnrot—. Usted replicará que la realidad no tiene la menor obligación de ser interesante. Yo le replicaré que la realidad puede prescindir de esa obligación, pero no las hipótesis.

The pettiest will be generous And the most craven will be brave: Nothing improves a reputation Like confinement to a grave.

Vivió en la soledad, sin una mujer, sin amigos; todo lo amó y lo poseyó, pero desde lejos, como del otro lado de un cristal; murió, y su tenue imagen se perdió, como el agua en el agua

Es trágica la entraña del adiós, como de todo acontecer en que es notorio el tiempo.

I leave nothing for nobody.

Me tocó una compañera muy seguidora, que iba como adivinándome la intención. El tango hacía su voluntá con nosotros y nos arriaba y nos perdía y nos ordenaba y nos volvía a encontrar.

Before I ever wrote a single line, I knew, in some mysterious and therefore unequivocal way, that I was destined for literature. What I didn't realize at first is that besides being destined to be a reader, I was also destined to be a writer, and I don't think one is less important than the other.

medio siglo de violencia le había enseñado que lo más fácil y seguro es matar…