I have often noticed that after I had bestowed on the characters of my novels some treasured item of my past, it would pine away in the artificial world where I had so abruptly placed it.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

Poetry involves the mysteries of the irrational perceived through rational words.

Poetry involves the mysteries of the irrational perceived through rational words.

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...

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...

Genius is an African who dreams up snow

Genius is an African who dreams up snow

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...

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.

Let the credulous and the vulgar continue to believe that all mental woes can be...

Let the credulous and the vulgar continue to believe that all mental woes can be...

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

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

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...

Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.

Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.

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...

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 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...

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

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...

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.

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...

Treading the soil of the moon, palpitating its pebbles, tasting the panic and splendor of...

Treading the soil of the moon, palpitating its pebbles, tasting the panic and splendor of...

Curiosity can lead you to bigger and better things. Columbus found America by accident.

Curiosity can lead you to bigger and better things. Columbus found America by accident.

And, one thing I definitely enjoyed personally, from a selfish point of view, was exploration...

And, one thing I definitely enjoyed personally, from a selfish point of view, was exploration...

Wave after wave of love flooded the stage and washed over me, the beginning of...

Wave after wave of love flooded the stage and washed over me, the beginning of...