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About this quote

What does it mean?
Borges depicts the universe as a library of infinite hexagonal galleries, symbolizing endless knowledge and structure.
In plain terms
The universe is an endless library of hexagonal rooms.
What can you take from it?
Structure can define the infinite.

Where it applies

  • philosophical writing
  • sci-fi worldbuilding
  • metaphorical thought

Putting it to work

  • map knowledge spatially
  • envision universe as ordered

Questions to consider

  • What structure would you give the infinite?
  • Is knowledge a place or a concept?

Another view

The metaphor may not account for chaos or emptiness.

More from Jorge Luis Borges

  1. Your unforgivable sins do not allow you to see my splendor.

    Permalink to quote #8
  2. Que el cielo exista, aunque mi lugar sea el infierno.

    Permalink to quote #10
  3. Mir Bahadur Ali is, as we have seen, incapable of evading the most vulgar of art's temptations: that of being a genius.

    Permalink to quote #7

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