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

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...

I have often noticed that after I had bestowed on the characters of my novels...

I have often noticed that after I had bestowed on the characters of my novels...

Turning one's novel into a movie script is rather like making a series of sketches...

Turning one's novel into a movie script is rather like making a series of sketches...

Happy is the novelist who manages to preserve an actual love letter that he received...

Happy is the novelist who manages to preserve an actual love letter that he received...

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

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...

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...

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.

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.

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 breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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...

Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order...

Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order...