It's a pity one can't imagine what one can't compare to anything. Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

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...

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...

I confess, I do not believe in time.

I confess, I do not believe in time.

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...

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...

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...

Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order...

Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order...

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

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

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...

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 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.

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution.

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...

There is only one school of literature - that of talent.

There is only one school of literature - that of talent.

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.

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

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

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

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...