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In the critic's vocabulary, the word "precursor" is indispensable, but it should be cleansed of all connotations of polemic or rivalry. The fact is that every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future.

— Jorge Luis Borges

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Variants

The fact is that all writers create their precursors. Their work modifies our conception of the past, just as it is bound to modify the future.

More quotes by Jorge Luis Borges

Every man should be capable of all ideas and I understand that in the future this will be the case.

Heaven and hell seem out of proportion to me: the actions of men do not deserve so much.

Borges Verbal (1999)

Poetry always remembers that it was an oral art before it was a written art. It remembers that it was first song.

The Divine Comedy (1977)

The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb.

The minotaur more than justifies the existence of the labyrinth.

All Jorge Luis Borges quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jorge Luis Borges (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.