Borges Quote by Joshua Foer
“It is forgetting, not remembering, that is the essence of what makes us human. To make sense of the world, we must filter it. "To think," Borges writes, "is to forget.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Book of Memory, 2011
Human memory works by forgetting, not just remembering; forgetting is essential to cognition.
In simple terms: Forgetting is key to thinking.
Key Takeaway
Embrace selective memory.
Themes
memory
forgetting
cognition
human nature
philosophy
Mood
thoughtful
philosophical
Type
inspirational
reflective
When to use this quote
- learning
- decision making
- creative work
- daily life
Key Concepts
cognitive psychology
information overload
attention focus
Questions to Reflect On
- What do you choose to forget?
- How does forgetting aid creativity?
A Different Perspective
Over‑filtering can erase valuable details.
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![“I would say that Edgar Allan Poe, [Georges] Perec, Thomas Pynchon, and [Jorge Luis] Borges are all boy-writers. These are writers who take... a kind of demonic joy in writing.” quote by Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c94/paul-auster-351_allan-poe_i-would-say-that-edgar-allan-poe-georges_292858.jpg)
![“This book first arose out of a passage in [Jorge Luis] Borges, out of the laughter that shattered, as I read the passage, all the familiar landmarks of my thought—our thought that bears the stamp of our age and our geography—breaking up all the ordered surfaces and all the planes with which we are…” quote by Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9a1/michel-foucault-1134_animals_this-book-first-arose-out-of-a-passage-i_571093.jpg)
