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

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an...

Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an...

I confess, I do not believe in time.

I confess, I do not believe in time.

The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.

The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.

I cannot conceive how anybody in his right mind should go to a psychoanalyst.

I cannot conceive how anybody in his right mind should go to a psychoanalyst.

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,...

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...

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.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

Some people, and I am one of them, hate happy ends. We feel cheated. Harm...

Some people, and I am one of them, hate happy ends. We feel cheated. Harm...

Style and Structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash.

Style and Structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

A novelist is, like all mortals, more fully at home on the surface of the...

A novelist is, like all mortals, more fully at home on the surface of the...

You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.

You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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.

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 is a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.

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