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Israelites, Christians and Muslims profess immortality, but the veneration they render this world proves they believe only in it, since they destine all other worlds, in infinite number, to be its reward or punishment.
Jorge Luis Borges
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that despite beliefs in immortality, humans often prioritize earthly life over spiritual existence.

Jorge Luis Borges' quote presents a thought-provoking perspective on the beliefs of Israelites, Christians, and Muslims regarding immortality. He implies that while these religions profess a belief in an afterlife, the way individuals value and engage with the material world indicates a deeper belief in the significance of this life alone. Essentially, the quote critiques the human tendency to focus on worldly concerns rather than the promised spiritual realms of reward or punishment.

Themes

ImmortalityBeliefWorldSpiritualityExistence

In practice

Example use cases

In a philosophical debate about the meaning of life.

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This felicitous supposition declared that there is only one Individual, and that this indivisible Individual is every one of the separate beings in the universe, and that these beings are the instruments and masks of divinity itself.
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A man sets out to draw the world. As the years go by, he peoples a space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, instruments, stars, horses, and individuals. A short time before he dies, he discovers that the patient labyrinth of lines traces the lineaments of his own face.
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Let neither tear nor reproach besmirch this declaration of the mastery of God who, with magnificent irony, granted me both the gift of books and the night.
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Quote by Jorge Luis Borges | QuoteProject