--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The truth is that we all live by leaving…" description: "\"“The truth is that we all live by leaving behind; no doubt we all profoundly know that we are immortal and that sooner or later every man will do all t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/jorge-luis-borges-275_every-man_the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving_2021693.jpg" --- # The truth is that we all live by leaving behind; no doubt… ![“The truth is that we all live by leaving behind; no doubt we all profoundly know that we are immortal and that sooner or later every man will do all things and know everything.” quote by Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/jorge-luis-borges-275_every-man_the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving_2021693.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/jorge-luis-borges-275_every-man_the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving_2021693.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/jorge-luis-borges-275_every-man_the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving_2021693.jpg) > ““The truth is that we all live by leaving behind; no doubt we all profoundly know that we are immortal and that sooner or later every man will do all things and know everything.”” [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on humanity’s awareness of mortality and the paradoxical belief in immortality, suggesting we live by leaving legacies while knowing we will eventually know all. **In simple terms:** We live by leaving legacies while believing we’re immortal and will eventually know everything. Key Takeaway Recognize the tension between legacy and the desire for ultimate knowledge. Themes mortality legacy knowledge existentialism Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - teaching - personal reflection - artistic creation Key Concepts philosophy paradox human condition Questions to Reflect On - How does the belief in leaving a legacy shape your actions? - What does “knowing everything” mean to you? A Different Perspective The claim of eventual omniscience is speculative and may overlook limits of human cognition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Sooner or later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sooner-or-later/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“All our lives we postpone everything that can be postponed; perhaps we all have the certainty, deep inside, that we are immortal and sooner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/all-our-lives-we-postpone-everything-that-can-be-postponed-perhaps-we/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The truth is that we live out our lives putting off all that can be put off; perhaps we all know deep down that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-truth-is-that-we-live-out-our-lives-putting-off-all-that-can-be/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The best argument I know for an immortal life is the existence of a man who deserves one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-best-argument-i-know-for-an-immortal-life-is-the-existence-of-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“I gave up something I wanted for something I need. And I need you, Angel. More than I think you’ll ever know. You’re immortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/i-gave-up-something-i-wanted-for-something-i-need-and-i-need-you-2/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [To be immortal is commonplace; except for man, all creatures are immortal, for they are ignorant of death; what is divine, terrible, incomprehensible, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/to-be-immortal-is-commonplace-except-for-man-all-creatures-are/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“The problem with living forever, of course, is you have to live forever before you know you're immortal...or invincible. Even the gods, in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-w-lumsden/the-problem-with-living-forever-of-course-is-you-have-to-live-forever/) [Mort W. Lumsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-w-lumsden/) > [As someone who flew in lots of airshows in his 20s, I know what immortal feels like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-isaacman/as-someone-who-flew-in-lots-of-airshows-in-his-20s-i-know-what/) [Jared Isaacman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-isaacman/) > [I don't know about immortal, but I must say that to me to touch more women and to have them understand friendships is important.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-marshall/i-don-t-know-about-immortal-but-i-must-say-that-to-me-to-touch-more/) [Garry Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-marshall/) > [“There is nothing very remarkable about being immortal; with the exception of mankind, all creatures are immortal, for they know nothing of death. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/there-is-nothing-very-remarkable-about-being-immortal-with-the/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [To say good-bye is to deny separation; it is to say Today we play at going our own ways, but we'll see each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/to-say-good-bye-is-to-deny-separation-it-is-to-say-today-we-play-at/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“Someone A man worn down by time, a man who does not even expect death (the proofs of death are statistics and everyone runs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/someone-a-man-worn-down-by-time-a-man-who-does-not-even-expect-death/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [My undertaking is not difficult, essentially. I should only have to be immortal to carry it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/my-undertaking-is-not-difficult-essentially-i-should-only-have-to-be/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“Learning After some time, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and imprisoning a soul; You learn that love does not equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/learning-after-some-time-you-learn-the-subtle-difference-between/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Take your time to find and understand what you don’t know and in the end, you shall know that it is not all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/take-your-time-to-find-and-understand-what-you-don-t-know-and-in-the/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) ## More by Jorge Luis Borges > [“No hables a menos que puedas mejorar el silencio.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/no-hables-a-menos-que-puedas-mejorar-el-silencio/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The execution was set for the 29th of March, at nine in the morning. This delay was due to a desire on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-execution-was-set-for-the-29th-of-march-at-nine-in-the-morning/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Like all writers, he measured the achievements of others by what they had accomplished, asking of them that they measure him by what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/like-all-writers-he-measured-the-achievements-of-others-by-what-they/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [How can we manage to illuminate the pathos of our lives?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/how-can-we-manage-to-illuminate-the-pathos-of-our-lives/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Loneliness does not worry me; life is difficult enough, putting up with yourself and with your own habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/loneliness-does-not-worry-me-life-is-difficult-enough-putting-up-with/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The fact is that all writers create their precursors. Their work modifies our conception of the past, just as it is bound to modify…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-fact-is-that-all-writers-create-their-precursors-their-work/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I don't think we're capable of knowledge, but I like to keep an open mind. So if you ask me whether I believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-don-t-think-we-re-capable-of-knowledge-but-i-like-to-keep-an-open/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The web of time - the strands of which approach one another, bifurcate, intersect, or ignore each other through the centuries - embraces "every"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-web-of-time-the-strands-of-which-approach-one-another-bifurcate/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“My memory, sir, is like a garbage disposal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/my-memory-sir-is-like-a-garbage-disposal/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [When I write, I do it urged by an intimate necessity. I don't have in mind an exclusive public, or a public of multitudes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/when-i-write-i-do-it-urged-by-an-intimate-necessity-i-don-t-have-in/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The mind was dreaming. The world was its dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-mind-was-dreaming-the-world-was-its-dream/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I foresee that man will resign himself each day to new abominations, and soon that only bandits and soldiers will be left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-foresee-that-man-will-resign-himself-each-day-to-new-abominations/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“If I could live again - I will travel light, If I could live again - I'll try to work bare feet at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/if-i-could-live-again-i-will-travel-light-if-i-could-live-again-i-ll/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Every man should be capable of all ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/every-man-should-be-capable-of-all-ideas/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Writing is only a guided dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/writing-is-only-a-guided-dream/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) [Explore all 558 Jorge Luis Borges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) ## More Every man quotes > [I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. MARTIN LUTHER, letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/i-cannot-forbid-a-person-to-marry-several-wives-for-it-does-not/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Every man has his secret sadness and sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-has-his-secret-sadness-and-sorrows-which-the-world-knows/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [ Vote for Donald Trump. You're going to see something and you'll be so happy, you'll be so thrilled. This \[presidential\] election is about every… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/vote-for-donald-trump-you-re-going-to-see-something-and-you-ll-be-so/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“The old intergenerational give-and-take of the country-that-used-to-be, when everyone knew his role and took the rules dead seriously, the acculturating back-and-forth that all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-old-intergenerational-give-and-take-of-the-country-that-used-to/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [Every man must wear out at least one pair of fools shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-derr-biggers/every-man-must-wear-out-at-least-one-pair-of-fools-shoes/) [Earl Derr Biggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-derr-biggers/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven in his own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-religions-must-be-tolerated-for-every-man-must-get-to-heaven-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“China reminds me most of America at its own moment of transformation—the period that Mark Twain and Charles Warner named the Gilded Age, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-osnos/china-reminds-me-most-of-america-at-its-own-moment-of-transformation/) [Evan Osnos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-osnos/) > [Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chalmers/every-man-is-a-missionary-now-and-forever-for-good-or-for-evil/) [Thomas Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chalmers/) > [“John, let me make one thing clear,” Jim said, cutting me off in his most stern, evangelical voice. “Every man is blessed with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/john-let-me-make-one-thing-clear-jim-said-cutting-me-off-in-his-most/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [Every man's heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe a final breath. And if what that man did in his life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-ultimate-warrior/every-man-s-heart-one-day-beats-its-final-beat-his-lungs-breathe-a/) [The Ultimate Warrior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-ultimate-warrior/) Browse all 3,342 Every man quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The truth is that we all live by leaving behind; no doubt we all profoundly know that we are immortal and that sooner or later every man will do all things and know everything.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jorge Luis Borges" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving-behind-no-doubt-we-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Every man" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving-behind-no-doubt-we-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/jorge-luis-borges-275_every-man_the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving_2021693.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/jorge-luis-borges-275_every-man_the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving_2021693.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/jorge-luis-borges-275_every-man_the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving_2021693.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The truth is that we all live by leaving behind; no doubt we all profoundly know that we are immortal and…” — Jorge Luis Borges", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jorge Luis Borges", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The truth is that we all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving-behind-no-doubt-we-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-truth-is-that-we-all-live-by-leaving-behind-no-doubt-we-all/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```