Skip to content

Books Quote by Jorge Luis Borges

“When it was proclaimed that the Library contained all books, the first impression was one of extravagant happiness. All men felt themselves to be the masters of an intact and secret treasure. There was no personal or world problem whose eloquent solution did not exist in some hexagon. The universe…” quote by Jorge Luis Borges
Download Open image
““When it was proclaimed that the Library contained all books, the first impression was one of extravagant happiness. All men felt themselves to be the masters of an intact and secret treasure. There was no personal or world problem whose eloquent solution did not exist in some hexagon. The universe was justified, the universe suddenly usurped the unlimited dimensions of hope. At that time a great deal was said about the Vindications: books of apology and prophecy which vindicated for all time the acts of every man in the universe and retained prodigious arcana for his future. Thousands of the greedy abandoned their sweet native hexagons and rushed up the stairways, urged on by the vain intention of finding their Vindication. These pilgrims disputed in the narrow corridors, proffered dark curses, strangled each other on the divine stairways, flung the deceptive books into the air shafts, met their death cast down in a similar fashion by the inhabitants of remote regions. Others went mad ... The Vindications exist (I have seen two which refer to persons of the future, to persons who are perhaps not imaginary) but the searchers did not remember that the possibility of a man's finding his Vindication, or some treacherous variation thereof, can be computed as zero.””

Jorge Luis Borges

About This Quote

Source Short story: “The Book of Sand” (or similar Borges work), 1975

A society obsessed with a library that claims to hold all knowledge leads to chaos, illustrating the danger of believing absolute truth exists.

In simple terms: Blind faith in total knowledge causes ruin.

Key Takeaway

Question the limits of knowledge and its impact.

Themes

knowledge illusion hubris chaos search truth

Mood

mysterious thoughtful somber

Type

philosophical literary

When to use this quote

  • academic research
  • spiritual quests
  • technological pursuits

Key Concepts

epistemology human ambition mythic quests destruction

Questions to Reflect On

  • What happens when we seek absolute certainty?
  • How do we handle the unknown?
A Different Perspective

Assuming all answers exist can blind us to reality.

3.3 out of 5 (8 ratings)

More by Jorge Luis Borges

Explore all 559 Jorge Luis Borges quotes

More Books quotes

Browse all 59,505 Books quotes