A novelist is, like all mortals, more fully at home on the surface of the present than in the ooze of the past.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

All my stories are webs of style and none seems at first blush to contain...

All my stories are webs of style and none seems at first blush to contain...

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

There is nothing in the world that I loathe more than group activity, that communal...

There is nothing in the world that I loathe more than group activity, that communal...

It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but...

It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but...

There are aphorisms that, like airplanes, stay up only while they are in motion.

There are aphorisms that, like airplanes, stay up only while they are in motion.

I would like to spare the time and effort of hack reviewers and, generally, persons...

I would like to spare the time and effort of hack reviewers and, generally, persons...

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist.

A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist.

My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music.

My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music.

Life is a great surprise. I don't see why death should not be an even...

Life is a great surprise. I don't see why death should not be an even...

It's a pity one can't imagine what one can't compare to anything. Genius is an...

It's a pity one can't imagine what one can't compare to anything. Genius is an...

A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to...

A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to...

To play safe, I prefer to accept only one type of power: the power of...

To play safe, I prefer to accept only one type of power: the power of...

I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like...

I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like...

Existence is a series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece.

Existence is a series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece.

I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory,...

I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory,...

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being...

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being...

Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man.

Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man.

The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is...

The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is...

There is only one school of literature - that of talent.

There is only one school of literature - that of talent.