"The Lottery in Babylon"; tr. Andrew Hurley, Collected Fictions (1998)
“
I have known that thing the Greeks knew not – uncertainty.
• Variant: I have known uncertainty: a state unknown to the Greeks.
— Jorge Luis Borges
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I have known that thing the Greeks knew not – uncertainty.
• Variant: I have known uncertainty: a state unknown to the Greeks." in the context of ""The Lottery in Babylon"; tr. Andrew Hurley, Collected Fictions (1998)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Jorge Luis Borges" (Quotes: In these selections the quotes from a story or essay are listed among the earliest collections which are known to contain it., The Garden of Forking Paths (1942): El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan (1942) is a collection of short stories, taking its title from one of them.)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges (24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine writer who is considered one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century. Most famous in the English speaking world for his short stories and fictive essays, Borges was also a poet, critic, translator and man of letters.
About Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges (24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine writer who is considered one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century. Most famous in the English speaking world for his short stories and fictive essays, Borges was also a poet, critic, translator and man of letters.
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