Home / Quotes / Quote by Jorge Luis Borges

Quote by Jorge Luis Borges

“I hardly know what I'm going to write - an article, a story, a poem in free verse - or in some regular form. I only know that when I have the first sentence. And when the first sentence makes a kind of pattern, then I find out the kind of rhythm I'm looking for.”

Quote by Jorge Luis Borges

Book:Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Work

Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations is a compilation of conversations between Borges and various interlocutors, including critics, writers, and scholars. The book delves into Borges' perspectives on his own work, the nature of fiction, and the role of the imagination in literature. It also touches upon his views on philosophy, politics, and the human condition, offering a comprehensive look at the intellectual and creative life of this renowned author. more

Author

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine writer, poet, and literary critic. His works are known for their unique fantasy and philosophical thinking, which have had a profound impact on 20th-century literature. more

You May Also Like

“I don't think there's any essential difference, at least for me, between writing poetry and writing prose.”

Thinking Writing Differences Essentials Prose Writing Poetry

Author:Jorge Luis Borges

“When I feel I'm going to write something, then I just am quiet and I try to listen. Then something comes through. And I do what I can in order not to tamper with it.”

Feels Writing Trying I Can Order Quiet

Book:Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Source: Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

“I try to avoid purple patches, fine writing, all that kind of thing... because I think they're a mistake. And then sometimes it comes through and sometimes it doesn't, but that's not up to me. It's up to chance.”

Thinking Writing Trying Kind Sometimes Chance Mistake Fine Purple Patches

Book:Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Source: Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

“I know that when I think of myself as being utterly worn out, when I think that somehow I have nothing more to write, then something is happening within me. And, in due course, it bubbles up; it comes to the surface, and then I do my best to listen. But there's nothing mystical about all this. I suppose all writers do the same.”

Thinking Knows Writing Courses Happenings Dues Surface Bubbles Worn Mystical Worn Out

Author:Jorge Luis Borges

“I am attracted to fantastic writing, and fantastic reading, of course. But I think things that we call fantastic may be real, in the sense of being real symbols.”

Thinking Writing May Real Courses Reading Symbols Fantastic Being Real

Book:Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Source: Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

“If I write a fantastic story, I'm not writing something willful. On the contrary, I am writing something that stands for my feelings, or for my thoughts. So that, in a sense, a fantastic story is as real and perhaps more real than a mere circumstantial story. Because after all, circumstances come and go, and symbols remain.”

Ifs Writing Real Stories Feelings Circumstances Mere Contrary Symbols Fantastic My Thoughts Comes And Goes

Author:Jorge Luis Borges

“Many people have thought of me as a thinker, as a philosopher, or even as a mystic. Well the truth is that though I have found reality perplexing enough - in fact, I find it gets more perplexing all the time - I never think of myself as a thinker.”

People Thinking Wells Enough Facts Reality Found Truth Is Philosopher Thinker Mystic

Book:Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Source: Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

“People think that I've committed myself to idealism, to solipsism, or to doctrines of the cabala, because I've used them in my tales. But really I was only trying to see what could be done with them. On the other hand, it might be argued that if I use them it's because I was feeling an affinity to them. Of course, that's true.”

People Ifs Thinking Trying Done Use Feelings Hands Might Used Courses Committed Tales Doctrine Idealism Affinity Solipsism

Author:Jorge Luis Borges

“In fact I'm in too much of a mental muddle to know where I am - an idealist or not. I'm a mere man of letters, and I do what I can with those subjects.”

Knows Men I Can Facts Too Much Subjects Letters Mere Idealist Muddle

Book:Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Source: Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

“I would rather like to think of God as being a kind of adventurer - even as Wells thought about him - or perhaps as something within us making for some unknown purpose.”

Thinking Wells Kind Purpose Adventurer

Book:Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations

Source: Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations