Jorge Luis Borges quotes
1899 – 1986 · Argentina, 20th century · poet, essayist, short‑story writer, translator, critic and librarian
About Jorge Luis Borges
Born in Buenos Aires in 1899, Borges spent formative years in Europe and took part in Ultraism in Spain. After 1955 he directed Argentina’s National Library; he gradually became blind but continued composing by dictation until his death in Geneva in 1986. His work—poetry, essays and short fiction—examines time, memory and identity.
Works: Ficciones; The Aleph; Fervor of Buenos Aires; The Book of Sand
Quotes
“In adultery, there is usually tenderness and self-sacrifice; in murder, courage; in profanation and blasphemy, a certain satanic splendour. Judas elected those offences unvisited by any virtues: abuse of confidence and informing.”
Source: Ficciones, "Three Versions of Judas" (1944) · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The passage appears in Borges’s short story and is spoken within the narrative by the fictional theologian Nils Runeberg.
Borges stages a provocative moral argument through a fictional scholar: he contrasts wrongs that carry a certain tragic dignity with betrayal that seems irredeemable. In the story the claim about Judas supports a larger puzzle about sacrifice, interpretation, and whether evil can wear virtues’ masks.