Literature is invention. Fiction is fiction. To call a story a true story is an insult to both truth and art.
Vladimir Nabokov
Literary Invention, Fiction Truth, Art Philosophy, Invention, Truth, Philosophy
Vladimir Nabokov’s Quotes On Topics
Bloodshed | Immortal Love | Rapture | Stale Myths | Literary Device | Perception Limits | Dead Souls | Poetic Chant | Sensory Perception | Flesh Separation | Strange Joy | Comedy | Chance Fate | Final Reckoning | Hamburger Choice | Words Knowledge | Bergson | Lolita’s Change | Sanguine Action | Cry | More
More Vladimir Nabokov Quotes
“Because of a streak of dreaminess and a gentle abstraction in his nature, Victor in any queue was always at its very end. He had long since grown used to this handicap, as one grows used to weak sight or a limp.” Vladimir Nabokov
Dreamy Nature, Gentle Abstraction, Queue Handicap, Dreaminess, Abstraction, Handicap
Vladimir Nabokov Dreamy Nature, Gentle Abstraction, Queue Handicap, Dreaminess, Abstraction, Handicap“My mind speaks English, my heart speaks Russian, and my ear prefers French.” Vladimir Nabokov
Mind Language, Heart Emotion, Ear Preference, Culture, Identity, Communication
Vladimir Nabokov Mind Language, Heart Emotion, Ear Preference, Culture, Identity, Communication“I am ready to give you all of my blood, if I had to – it’s hard to explain – sounds flat – but that’s how it is.” Vladimir Nabokov
Complete Sacrifice, Emotional Devotion, Honest Confession, Love, Devotion, Intensity
Vladimir Nabokov Complete Sacrifice, Emotional Devotion, Honest Confession, Love, Devotion, Intensity“There is an old American saying ‘He who lives in a glass house should not try to kill two birds with one stone.” Vladimir Nabokov
Saying Wisdom, Glass House, Expression, Morality, Action, Life
Vladimir Nabokov Saying Wisdom, Glass House, Expression, Morality, Action, Life“Great sleepless artists who had to die for a few hours in order to live for centuries.” Vladimir Nabokov
Sleepless Artists, Timeless Art, Creative Legacy, Art, Artists, Legacy
Vladimir Nabokov Sleepless Artists, Timeless Art, Creative Legacy, Art, Artists, Legacy“Listen – I want to run all my life, screaming at the top of my lungs. Let all of life be an unfettered howl. Like the crowd greeting the gladiator. Don’t stop to think, don’t interrupt the scream, exhale, release life’s rapture. Everything is blooming. Everything is flying. Everything is screaming, choking on its screams. Laughter. Running. Let-down hair. That is all there is to life.” Vladimir Nabokov
Freedom, Life, Passion, Expression, Energy, Laughter
Vladimir Nabokov Freedom, Life, Passion, Expression, Energy, Laughter“Solitude is the playfield of Satan.” Vladimir Nabokov
Solitude, Inner Demons, Isolation, Temptation, Spiritual Struggle, Existential Despair
Vladimir Nabokov Solitude, Inner Demons, Isolation, Temptation, Spiritual Struggle, Existential Despair“The summer night was starless and stirless, with distant spasms of silent lightning.” Vladimir Nabokov
Night Imagery, Silent Lightning, Summer Stillness, Imagery, Lightning, Stillness
Vladimir Nabokov Night Imagery, Silent Lightning, Summer Stillness, Imagery, Lightning, Stillness“The moral sense in mortals is the duty We have to pay on mortal sense of beauty.” Vladimir Nabokov
Morality, Beauty, Philosophy, Ethics, Sense, Life
Vladimir Nabokov Morality, Beauty, Philosophy, Ethics, Sense, Life“I have rewritten – often several times – every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.” Vladimir Nabokov
Rewriting Writing, Publishing Pencils, Literature Persistence, Editing, Creativity, Effort
Vladimir Nabokov Rewriting Writing, Publishing Pencils, Literature Persistence, Editing, Creativity, Effort“I have often noticed that after I had bestowed on the characters of my novels some treasured item of my past, it would pine away in the artificial world where I had so abruptly placed it.” Vladimir Nabokov
Novel Reflection, Personal Influence, Literary Nostalgia, Reflection, Influence, Nostalgia
Vladimir Nabokov Novel Reflection, Personal Influence, Literary Nostalgia, Reflection, Influence, Nostalgia“Poor Knight! he really had two periods, the firsta dull man writing broken English, the seconda broken man writing dull English.” Vladimir Nabokov
Writing, Creativity, Literature, Self-perception, Communication, Irony
Vladimir Nabokov Writing, Creativity, Literature, Self-perception, Communication, Irony“This night the password was silence, and the soldier at the gate responded with silence to Cincinnatus’ silence and let him pass; likewise at all the other gates.” Vladimir Nabokov
Silence Communication, Password, Soldier, Gate, Peace, Quiet
Vladimir Nabokov Silence Communication, Password, Soldier, Gate, Peace, Quiet“And she was mine, she was mine, the key was in my fist, my fist was in my pocket, she was mine.” Vladimir Nabokov
Possessive Love, Key To Heart, Repetition Desire, Love, Key, Fist
Vladimir Nabokov Possessive Love, Key To Heart, Repetition Desire, Love, Key, Fist“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“I see the steam of the chocolate and the plates of blueberry tarts.” Vladimir Nabokov
Senses, Food, Memory, Detail, Perception, Nostalgia
Vladimir Nabokov Senses, Food, Memory, Detail, Perception, Nostalgia“There is nothing in the world that I loathe more than group activity, that communal bath where the hairy and slippery mix in a multiplication of mediocrity.” Vladimir Nabokov
Loathing, Group, Individuality, Society, Mediocrity, Freedom
Vladimir Nabokov Loathing, Group, Individuality, Society, Mediocrity, Freedom“I am an actor, living generally on air, but I have always elastic hopes for the future; they may be stretched indefinitely, such hopes, without bursting.” Vladimir Nabokov
Hope, Future, Dreams, Resilience, Growth, Ambition
Vladimir Nabokov Hope, Future, Dreams, Resilience, Growth, Ambition