Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

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...

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...

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...

I confess, I do not believe in time.

I confess, I do not believe in time.

It is a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.

It is a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.

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.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

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 pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being...

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being...

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...

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.

Solitude is the play field of Satan

Solitude is the play field of Satan

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.

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...

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.