Jorge Luis Borges on Birthday
1899–1986 Argentina
← All quotes by Jorge Luis Borges
4 quotes
Time can't be measured in days the way money is measured in pesos and centavos, because all pesos are equal, while every day, perhaps every hour, is different.
Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.
A labyrinth of symbols... An invisible labyrinth of time.
The Garden of Forking Paths (1942)
And yet, and yet . . . Denying temporal succession, denying the self, denying the astronomical universe, are apparent desperations and secret consolations. Our destiny is not frightful by being unreal; it is frightful because it is irreversible and iron-clad. Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire. The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges.
A New Refutation of Time (1946)