Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order to enjoy life, we should not enjoy it too much.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

A masterpiece of fiction is an original world and as such is not likely to...

A masterpiece of fiction is an original world and as such is not likely to...

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 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.

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

I confess, I do not believe in time.

I confess, I do not believe in time.

Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.

Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.

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...

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

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

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...

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.

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 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...

Discussion in class, which means letting twenty young blockheads and two cocky neurotics discuss something...

Discussion in class, which means letting twenty young blockheads and two cocky neurotics discuss something...

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

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

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

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

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...

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...

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...

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

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...