The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.

Quote by Vladimir Nabokov

Topics: Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

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

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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...

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...

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

Caress the detail, the divine detail.

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

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

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

It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but...

It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but...

It's a pity one can't imagine what one can't compare to anything. Genius is an...

It's a pity one can't imagine what one can't compare to anything. Genius is an...

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.