Born on this day in Buenos Aires, philosopher and writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) was a thoughtful child who admired Cervantes's Don Quixote* and dreamed from an early age of becoming a writer.

In 1914, his family moved to Europe. Young Jorge excelled academically and found deep inspiration in the philosophy of Schopenhauer and the poetry of Walt Whitman.

“We have these two ideas: the belief that dreams are part of waking, and the other, the splendid one, the belief of the poets: that all of waking is a dream. There is no difference between the two,” he reflected.

Returning to Argentina in 1921, Borges began writing poetry. “I come from a sad country,” he said, referencing Argentina’s political unrest. Undeterred, he transformed philosophy into literature and helped shape the city’s avant-garde movement of artists.

“Nothing is built on stone,” he said. “All is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.”

At age 28, Borges had his first cataract surgery—one of eight unsuccessful attempts to save his vision. Ultimately, he went blind, but his inner vision flourished. Through words and dreams, he crafted some of the most enduring works of the 20th century.

“Although at my age almost everyone I know is dead, I prefer to live my life looking forward. The past is a subject for poems, for elegies, but I try not to think about the past. I would rather spend my time thinking of the future... I hope to continue dreaming and writing.”

Jorge Luis Borges made the invisible visible. His blindness never dulled his insight... it illuminated his imagination. He was honored among the Top 100 Writers of the 20th Century. Click to explore the rest.