Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The discovery of Uqbar was caused by the specific coincidence of finding a mirror and an encyclopedia.
In plain terms
A mirror and an encyclopedia together led to the discovery of Uqbar.
What can you take from it?
Accidental combinations of objects can lead to major discoveries.

Where it applies

  • research
  • travel
  • library visits

Putting it to work

  • look for coincidences
  • study physical clues
  • connect disparate objects

Questions to consider

  • What small things led to big discoveries for you?
  • Is discovery luck or skill?

Another view

It attributes discovery to chance rather than skill.

More from Jorge Luis Borges

  1. The possibilities of the art of combination are not infinite, but they tend to be frightful. The Greeks engendered the chimera, a monster with heads of the lio…

    Permalink to quote #50

  2. One of the heresiarchs of Uqbar had stated that mirrors and copulation are abominable, since they both multiply the numbers of man.

    Permalink to quote #52

  3. The central problem of novel-writing is causality.

    Permalink to quote #49

Related quotes

  1. Man knows that love is, but not what it is.

    Emanuel SwedenborgEmanuel Swedenborg quote #1

  2. I am on the edge of mysteries and the veil is getting thinner and thinner.

    Louis PasteurLouis Pasteur quote #1

  3. The account of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as the manuscripts are inaccurately designated, and of the half a century of intense research that follow…

    Geza VermesGeza Vermes quote #1