Caress the detail, the divine detail.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.

Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.

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...

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...

The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in...

The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in...

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

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

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.

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

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

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...

No author has created with less emphasis such pathetic characters as Chekhov has.

No author has created with less emphasis such pathetic characters as Chekhov has.

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,...

Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective: it has to be...

Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective: it has to be...

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...

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...

The more gifted and talkative one's characters are, the greater the chances of their resembling...

The more gifted and talkative one's characters are, the greater the chances of their resembling...

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

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

It is a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.

It is a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.

Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it.

Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it.

The past is malleable and flexible, changing as our recollection interprets and re-explains what has...

The past is malleable and flexible, changing as our recollection interprets and re-explains what has...

We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in...

We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in...