Knight seemed to him to be constantly playing some game of his own invention, without telling his partners its rules.
Vladimir Nabokov
Knight Game, Ruleless Play, Invention Confusion, Game, Rules, Invention
Vladimir Nabokov’s Quotes On Topics
Expectancy | Immortal Poems | Time | Life’s Struggle | Wolf Metaphor | Fear Of Death | Smile | Dreamy Nature | Love Resilience | Artistic Details | Silence Communication | Magic | Independence | Novel Function | Diurnal Reality | Helmet | Doomed | Wings | Demented Youth | Awakening | More
More Vladimir Nabokov Quotes
“Readers are not sheep, and not every pen tempts them.” Vladimir Nabokov
Reading Individuality, Writing Power, Readers Influence, Books, Literature, Expression
Vladimir Nabokov Reading Individuality, Writing Power, Readers Influence, Books, Literature, Expression“She wrote poetry. She was poetically superstitious. She said she knew she would die soon after my sixteenth birthday, and did.” Vladimir Nabokov
Poetic Superstition, Death Prediction, Poetic Writing, Superstition, Prediction, Writing
Vladimir Nabokov Poetic Superstition, Death Prediction, Poetic Writing, Superstition, Prediction, Writing“I need you, the reader, to imagine us, for we don’t really exist if you don’t.” Vladimir Nabokov
Reader Imagination, Existence Dependency, Reading Bond, Reader, Imagination, Existence
Vladimir Nabokov Reader Imagination, Existence Dependency, Reading Bond, Reader, Imagination, Existence“Mind you, sometimes the angels smoke, hiding it with their sleeves, and when the archangel comes, they throw the cigarettes away: that’s when you get shooting stars.” Vladimir Nabokov
Angelic Imagery, Smoking Angels, Shooting Stars, Imagery, Angels, Stars
Vladimir Nabokov Angelic Imagery, Smoking Angels, Shooting Stars, Imagery, Angels, Stars“Two silent time zones had now merged to form the standard time of one man’s fate; and it is not impossible that the poet in New Wye and the thug in New York awoke that morning at the same crushed beat of their Timekeeper’s stopwatch.” Vladimir Nabokov
Time, Fate, Life, Destiny, Humanity, Synchrony
Vladimir Nabokov Time, Fate, Life, Destiny, Humanity, Synchrony“The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in the book, but with the mind that conceived and composed that book.” Vladimir Nabokov
Admired Reader, Creative Mind, Book Connection, Reading, Imagination, Literature
Vladimir Nabokov Admired Reader, Creative Mind, Book Connection, Reading, Imagination, Literature“The only consciousness that persists in the hereafter is the consciousness of pain.” Vladimir Nabokov
Consciousness, Pain, Afterlife, Philosophy, Suffering, Reality
Vladimir Nabokov Consciousness, Pain, Afterlife, Philosophy, Suffering, Reality“I long for some terrific disaster. Earthquake. Spectacular explosion. Her mother is messily but instantly and permanently eliminated, along with everybody else for miles around.” Vladimir Nabokov
Disaster Explosion, Terrific Tragedy, Instant Elimination, Destruction, Chaos, Death
Vladimir Nabokov Disaster Explosion, Terrific Tragedy, Instant Elimination, Destruction, Chaos, Death“On such sunny, sad mornings I always feel in my bones that there is a chance yet of my not being excluded from Heaven, and that salvation may be granted to me despite the frozen mud and horror in my heart.” Vladimir Nabokov
Hope Salvation, Heaven Fate, Emotion Struggle, Faith, Life, Hope
Vladimir Nabokov Hope Salvation, Heaven Fate, Emotion Struggle, Faith, Life, Hope“Where is the happiness, the sunshine, where are those thick skittles of wood which crashed and bounced so nicely, where is my bicycle with the low handlebars and the big gear? It seems there’s a law which says that nothing ever vanishes, that matter is indestructible; therefore the chips from my skittles and the spokes of my bicycle still exist somewhere to this day. The pity of it is that I’ll never find them again – never.” Vladimir Nabokov
Happiness Lost, Indestructible Matter, Nostalgic Regret, Memories, Loss, Philosophy
Vladimir Nabokov Happiness Lost, Indestructible Matter, Nostalgic Regret, Memories, Loss, Philosophy“I looked and looked at her, and knew as clearly as I know I am to die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth, or hoped for anywhere else.” Vladimir Nabokov
Intense Love, Earthly Passion, Everlasting Hope, Love, Passion, Hope
Vladimir Nabokov Intense Love, Earthly Passion, Everlasting Hope, Love, Passion, Hope“There are teachers and students with square minds who are by nature meant to undergo the fascination of categories. For them, ‘schools’ and ‘movements’ are everything; by painting a group symbol on the brow of mediocrity, they condone their own incomprehension of true genius.” Vladimir Nabokov
Education, Teachers, Categories, Genius, Mediocrity, Knowledge
Vladimir Nabokov Education, Teachers, Categories, Genius, Mediocrity, Knowledge“And yet I shall try again: “they are murdering me!“ – all right, all together once more: “they are murdering me!” and again: “murdering”. I want to write this in such a way that you will cover your ears, your membranaceous, simian ears that you hide under strands of beautiful feminine hair – but I know them, I see them, I pinch them, the cold little things, I worry them with my fingers to somehow warm them, bring them to life, render them human, force them to hear me.” Vladimir Nabokov
Murderous Writing, Human Hearing, Ear Imagery, Writing, Hearing, Imagery
Vladimir Nabokov Murderous Writing, Human Hearing, Ear Imagery, Writing, Hearing, Imagery“Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.” Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita, Identity, Memory, Love, Transformation, Literature
Vladimir Nabokov Lolita, Identity, Memory, Love, Transformation, Literature“I knew that the hopelessly poignant thing was not Lolita’s absence from my side, but the absence of her voice from that concord.” Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita Absence, Poignant Loss, Emotional Absence, Absence, Loss, Emotional
Vladimir Nabokov Lolita Absence, Poignant Loss, Emotional Absence, Absence, Loss, Emotional“Beauty plus pity-that is the closest we can get to a definition of art. Where there is beauty there is pity for the simple reason that beauty must die: beauty always dies, the manner dies with the matter, the world dies with the individual.” Vladimir Nabokov
Beauty Art, Pity Death, Philosophy Creation, Expression, Life, Meaning
Vladimir Nabokov Beauty Art, Pity Death, Philosophy Creation, Expression, Life, Meaning“I put everything into my poetry that I should have put into my life, and now it’s too late for me to start all over again. The only thought that occurs to me at the moment is that in the final reckoning it’s better to have been sanguine by temperament, a man of action, and if you must get drunk do it properly and smash the place up.” Vladimir Nabokov
Poetry Life, Final Reckoning, Sanguine Action, Poetry, Life, Reckoning
Vladimir Nabokov Poetry Life, Final Reckoning, Sanguine Action, Poetry, Life, Reckoning“I love you, I’m waiting for you unbearably.” Vladimir Nabokov
Unbearable Love, Waiting Passion, Emotional Desire, Love, Passion, Desire
Vladimir Nabokov Unbearable Love, Waiting Passion, Emotional Desire, Love, Passion, Desire“When I receive a new novel from a hopeful publisher – “hoping that I like the book as much as he does” – I check first of all how much dialog there is, and if it looks too abundant or too sustained, I shut the book with a bang.” Vladimir Nabokov
Publisher Hope, Dialogue Check, Novel Critique, Writing, Authors, Books
Vladimir Nabokov Publisher Hope, Dialogue Check, Novel Critique, Writing, Authors, Books