It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but it is still harder to exceed my loathing of the very nature of totalitarian states in which massacre is only an administrative detail.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

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.

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.

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...

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...

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

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...

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

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

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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

Solitude is the play field of Satan

Solitude is the play field of Satan

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,...

So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others,...

So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others,...

You never really know someone until you have been their friend.

You never really know someone until you have been their friend.

When women kiss it always reminds one of prize-fighters shaking hands.

When women kiss it always reminds one of prize-fighters shaking hands.