Only one letter divides the comic from the cosmic.
Vladimir Nabokov
Comic Cosmic, Wordplay Twist, Linguistic Fun, Comic, Cosmic, Fun
Vladimir Nabokov’s Quotes On Topics
Action | Opening | Rhythm | Poverty Yearning | Ear Imagery | Whereabouts Inquiry | Shops | Nowhere Else | Power Of Observation | Gate | Observation | Eternal Bond | Self Perception | Careful Perseverance | Rational Irrationality | Enjoyment | Prose Fancy | Strange Feeling | Derivative Imitation | Music | More
More Vladimir Nabokov Quotes
“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 Literary Invention, Fiction Truth, Art Philosophy, Invention, Truth, Philosophy“No wonder tobacco shops have a predilection for corners, for.” Vladimir Nabokov
Corner Shops, Tobacco Preference, Witty Observations, Shops, Humor, Corners
Vladimir Nabokov Corner Shops, Tobacco Preference, Witty Observations, Shops, Humor, Corners“Lolita should make all of us – parents, social workers, educators – apply ourselves with still greater vigilance and vision to the task of bringing up a better generation in a safer world.” Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita Education, Vigilance Generation, Parents Social, Vision, Child, Responsibility
Vladimir Nabokov Lolita Education, Vigilance Generation, Parents Social, Vision, Child, Responsibility“And let me not leave out the moon – for surely there must be a moon, the full, incredibly clear disc that goes so well with Russian lusty frosts. So there it comes, steering out of a flock of small dappled clouds, which it tinges with a vague iridescence; and, as it sails higher, it glazes the runner tracks left on the road, where every sparkling lump of snow is emphasized by a swollen shadow.” Vladimir Nabokov
Lusty Frosts, Moonlight Iridescence, Winter Imagery, Frosts, Moonlight, Winter
Vladimir Nabokov Lusty Frosts, Moonlight Iridescence, Winter Imagery, Frosts, Moonlight, Winter“All things considered, it had been his home, and the set of kindly, well-meaning, gentle-mannered people driven to death or exile for the sole crime of their existing, was the set to which he too belonged. His dark youthful broodings, the romantic – and let me add, somewhat artificial – passion for his mother’s land, could not, I am sure, exclude real affection for the country where he had been born and bred.” Vladimir Nabokov
Home, Exile, Death, Belonging, Passion, Memory
Vladimir Nabokov Home, Exile, Death, Belonging, Passion, Memory“Caress the details, the divine details. In high art and pure science detail is everything.” Vladimir Nabokov
Art, Science, Detail, Perfection, Focus, Beauty
Vladimir Nabokov Art, Science, Detail, Perfection, Focus, Beauty“I am probably responsible for the odd fact that people don’t seem to name their daughters Lolita any more. I have heard of young female poodles being given that name since 1956, but of no human beings.” Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita, Name, Identity, Change, Society, Memory
Vladimir Nabokov Lolita, Name, Identity, Change, Society, Memory“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“Thus a man looking through a tremendous telescope does not see the cirri of an Indian summer above his charmed orchard, but does see, as my regretted colleague, the late Professor Alexander Ivanchenko, twice saw, the swarming of hesperozoa in a humid valley of the planet Venus.” Vladimir Nabokov
Telescope, Space, Discovery, Science, Observation, Perspective
Vladimir Nabokov Telescope, Space, Discovery, Science, Observation, Perspective“Knowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations.” Vladimir Nabokov
Reading Pleasure, Bedtime Joy, Good Book, Reading, Joy, Book
Vladimir Nabokov Reading Pleasure, Bedtime Joy, Good Book, Reading, Joy, Book“Dostoevky’s lack of taste, his monotonous dealings with persons suffering with pre-Freudian complexes, the way he has of wallowing in the tragic misadventures of human dignity – all this is difficult to admire.” Vladimir Nabokov
Literature, Criticism, Philosophy, Dignity, Perception, Complexity
Vladimir Nabokov Literature, Criticism, Philosophy, Dignity, Perception, Complexity“Everything was too quiet to be natural. It seemed as if the silence was rising, rising – would suddenly brim over and break into laughter.” Vladimir Nabokov
Rising Silence, Unnatural Quiet, Silent Laughter, Silence, Quiet, Laughter
Vladimir Nabokov Rising Silence, Unnatural Quiet, Silent Laughter, Silence, Quiet, Laughter“You forget, my good man, that what the artist perceives is, primarily, the difference between things. It is the vulgar who note their resemblance.” Vladimir Nabokov
Artistic Perception, Difference Focus, Vulgar Resemblance, Perception, Difference, Art
Vladimir Nabokov Artistic Perception, Difference Focus, Vulgar Resemblance, Perception, Difference, Art“As Ganin looked up at the skeletal roof in the ethereal sky he realized with merciless clarity that his affair with Mary was ended forever. It had lasted no more than four days – four days which were perhaps the happiest days of his life. But now he had exhausted his memories, was sated by them, and the image of Mary, together with that of the old dying poet, now remained in the house of ghosts, which itself was already a memory.” Vladimir Nabokov
Memories, Love, Loss, Time, Past, Change
Vladimir Nabokov Memories, Love, Loss, Time, Past, Change“I love you, my sun, my life, I love your eyes-closed- all the little tails of your thoughts, your stretchy vowels, your whole soul from head to heels.” Vladimir Nabokov
Love Soul, Life Emotion, Eyes Thoughts, Passion, Romance, Intimacy
Vladimir Nabokov Love Soul, Life Emotion, Eyes Thoughts, Passion, Romance, Intimacy“It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.” Vladimir Nabokov
Love Sight, First Ever, Last Love, Romance, Emotion, Eternity
Vladimir Nabokov Love Sight, First Ever, Last Love, Romance, Emotion, Eternity“There he stood, in the camouflage of sun and shade, disfigured by them and masked by his own nakedness.” Vladimir Nabokov
Camouflage Contrast, Sun Shade, Naked Disguise, Contrast, Shade, Disguise
Vladimir Nabokov Camouflage Contrast, Sun Shade, Naked Disguise, Contrast, Shade, Disguise“In fact I believe that one day a reappraiser will come and declare that, far from having been a frivolous firebird, I was a rigid moralist: kicking sin, cuffing stupidity, ridiculing the vulgar and cruel – and assigning sovereign power to tenderness, talent and pride.” Vladimir Nabokov
Morality, Criticism, Self-perception, Judgment, Change, Identity
Vladimir Nabokov Morality, Criticism, Self-perception, Judgment, Change, Identity