Quotes from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“I do not write for a select minority, which means nothing to me, nor for that adulated platonic entity known as ‘The Masses’. Both abstractions, so dear to the demagogue, I disbelieve in. I write for myself and for my friends, and I write to ease the passing of time.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“The years go by, and I've told the story so many times that I'm not sure anymore whether I actually remember it or whether I just remember the words I tell it with.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“.....a miracle has the right to impose conditions.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“We forget that we are all dead men conversing with dead men.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“To see a thing one has to comprehend it. An armchair presupposes the human body, its joints and limbs; a pair of scissors, the act of cutting. What can be said of a lamp or a car? The savage cannot comprehend the missionary’s Bible; the passenger does not see the same rigging as the sailors. If we really saw the world, maybe we would understand it.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“zaman beni sürükleyen bir nehir, ama nehir benim;
beni parçalayan bir kaplan, ama kaplan benim;
beni tüketen bir ateş, ama ateş benim;
evren, ne yazık ki gerçek;
ben, ne yazık ki, borges'im”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“El hombre olvida que es un muerto que conversa con muertos.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“إذا كان هذا الصباح وهذا اللقاء حلمين، فعلى كلينا أن يظن أنه الحالم.وربما توقفنا عن الحلم،وربما واصلناه. وواجبناالجلي، في الوقت نفسه،هو أن نقبل بالحلم تماماًكما نقبل وبأننا نولد ونرى ونتنفس "
قال الآخر بجزع: وإذا استمر الحلم ؟”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“There is nothing but quotations left for us. Our language is a system of quotations.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Halfway through his reclusion, Arredondo experienced more than once that almost timeless time. In the first of the house’s three patios there was cistern with a frog in it. It never occurred to Arredondo to think that the frog’s time, which borders on eternity, was what he himself sought.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“La ceguera gradual no es cosa trágica. Es como un lento atardecer de verano.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Gerçekte, uykudan uyanıp da kendi kendisiyle karşılaşmayan insan yoktur.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“El comedor y la biblioteca de mis recuerdos eran ahora, derribada la pared medianera, una sola gran pieza desmantelada, con uno que otro mueble. No trataré de describirlos, porque no estoy seguro de haberlos visto, pese a la despiadada luz blanca. Me explicaré. Para ver una cosa hay que comprenderla. El sillón presupone el cuerpo humano, sus articulaciones y partes; las tijeras, el acto de cortar. ¿Qué decir de una lámpara o de un vehículo? El salvaje no puede percibir la biblia del misionero; el pasajero no ve el mismo cordaje que los hombres de a bordo. Si viéramos realmente el universo, tal vez lo entenderíamos. "

Extracto del relato THERE ARE MORE THINGS”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Ölümü sabırsızlıkla bekleyerek ama hiç sızlanmadan öldü.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Je n'écris pas pour une petite élite dont je n'ai cure, ni pour cette entité platonique adulée qu'on surnomme la Masse. Je ne crois pas à ces deux abstractions, chères au démagogue. J'écris pour moi, pour mes amis et pour adoucir le cours du temps.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“I clarified that I myself was Colombian.
"What is 'being Colombian'?"
"I'm not sure," I replied. "It's an act of faith."
"Like being Norwegian," she said, nodding.
I can recall nothing further of what was said that night.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Tasalanma, yavaş yavaş artan körlük pek trajik değil. Ağır bir yaz akşamı gibi.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Ateşi düşündüm, ama sonsuz bir kitabın yakılmasının da sonsuz olmasından ve yeryüzünü dumanıyla boğabilmesinden ürktüm.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Where are we, then, if not for paradise?" he asked. "Do you believe that the deity is able to create a place that is not paradise? Do you believe the Fall is something ther than not realizing that we are in paradise?”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“Las palabras son símbolos que postulan una memoria compartida. La que ahora quiero historiar es mía solamente; quienes la compartieron han muerto. Los místicos invocan una rosa, un beso, un pájaro que es todos los pájaros, un sol que es todas las estrellas y el sol, un cántaro de vino, un jardín o el acto sexual. De esas metáforas ninguna me sirve para esa larga noche de júbilo, que nos dejó, cansados y felices, en los linderos de la aurora. Casi no hablamos, mientras las ruedas y los cascos retumbaban sobre las piedras. (...)”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

“« Dans nos écoles on nous enseigne le doute et l’art d’oublier. Avant tout l’oubli de ce qui est personnel et localisé. »

« — Personne ne peut lire deux mille livres. Depuis quatre siècles que je vis je n’ai pas dû en lire plus d’une demi-douzaine. D’ailleurs ce qui importe ce n’est pas de lire mais de relire. L’imprimerie, maintenant abolie, a été l’un des pires fléaux de l’humanité, car elle a tendu à multiplier jusqu’au vertige des textes inutiles.

— De mon temps à moi, hier encore, répondis-je, triomphait la superstition que du jour au lendemain il se passait des événements qu’on aurait eu honte d’ignorer. »


« — À cent ans, l’être humain peut se passer de l’amour et de l’amitié. Les maux et la mort involontaire ne sont plus une menace pour lui. Il pratique un art quelconque, il s’adonne à la philosophie, aux mathématiques ou bien il joue aux échecs en solitaire. Quand il le veut, il se tue. Maître de sa vie, l’homme l’est aussi de sa mort[30].
— Il s’agit d’une citation ? lui demandai-je.
— Certainement. Il ne nous reste plus que des citations. Le langage est un système de citations. »

Extrait de: Borges,J.L. « Le livre de sable. » / Utopie d’un homme qui est fatigué”
― Jorge Luis Borges, quote from The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

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“Everybody has a soul." I turn to Pelly. "And that means you, too."
"I'm not so sure of that," he says. "What does it feel like?"
"Having a soul?" I look at Maxine, but she only shrugs. "I don't know," I tell Pelly. "I don't have anything to compare it to- you know, what not having a sould would feel like."
We fall into a kind of awkward silence. I don't know about the others, but I'm working on what a soul is and not coming up with a whole lot. I mean, I just always thought of it as me- what I feel like being me. But surely Pelly feels like himself, so that means he's got a soul right? But if that's not your soul, then what is?
It's weird and not something you really think about, is it?”
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