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It is known that Whistler when asked how long it took him to paint one of his "nocturnes" answered: "All of my life." With the same rigor he could have said that all of the centuries that preceded the moment when he painted were necessary. From that correct application of the law of causality it follows that the slightest event presupposes the inconceivable universe and, conversely, that the universe needs even the slightest of events.

— Jorge Luis Borges Discussion (1932)

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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.

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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.