Thus fought the heroes, tranquil their admirable hearts, violent their swords, resigned to kill and to die. - Jorge Luis Borges

Sometimes, looking at the many books I have at home, I feel I shall die before I come to the end of them, yet I cannot resist the temptation of buying new books. Whenever I walk into a bookstore and find a book on one of my hobbies — for example, Old English or Old Norse poetry — I say to myself, “What a pity I can’t buy that book, for I already have a copy at home.

Any life, however long and complicated it may be, actually consists of a single moment — the moment when a man knows forever more who he is.

I have committed the worst sin that can be committed. I have not been happy.