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

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.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow

Genius is an African who dreams up snow

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...

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

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

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

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...

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.

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...

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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...