---
title: "1 Fiction Purpose Quotes By Vladimir Nabokov"
description: "1 Fiction Purpose quotes by Vladimir Nabokov. Plus more from Vladimir Nabokov and more Fiction Purpose sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg"
---

> [“There exist few things more tedious than a discussion of general ideas inflicted by author or reader upon a work of fiction. The purpose of this foreword is not to show that "Bend Sinister" belongs or does not belong to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than-a-discussion-of-general/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg)

## More by Vladimir Nabokov

> [And the rest is rust and stardust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-the-rest-is-rust-and-stardust/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-is-no-science-without-fancy-and-no-art-without-fact/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“My solemn exasperation was to her the silence of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/my-solemn-exasperation-was-to-her-the-silence-of-love/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [ “...under no circumstances would he \[Humbert Humbert\] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/under-no-circumstances-would-he-humbert-humbert-have-interfered-with/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Ami azt illeti, Vannak kezdtek nagyon tetszeni a fák is, a csodák is meg az Adák is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/ami-azt-illeti-vannak-kezdtek-nagyon-tetszeni-a-f-k-is-a-csod-k-is/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. Words without experience are meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/we-live-not-only-in-a-world-of-thoughts-but-also-in-a-world-of-things/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“As palavras sem a experiência não teriam qualquer significado.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/as-palavras-sem-a-experi-ncia-n-o-teriam-qualquer-significado/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“It isn’t possible. I cannot imagine it. Come on over here, you foolish little doe, and tell me on what day I shall die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-isn-t-possible-i-cannot-imagine-it-come-on-over-here-you-foolish/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/precautions-to-be-taken-in-the-case-of-freak-reincarnation-what-to-do/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [And this is the only immortality you and i may share, my Lolita.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-this-is-the-only-immortality-you-and-i-may-share-my-lolita/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Be true to your Dick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/be-true-to-your-dick/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“It is indeed a tricky name. It is often misspelt, because the eye tends to regard the "a" of the first syllable as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-is-indeed-a-tricky-name-it-is-often-misspelt-because-the-eye-tends/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“(T)here exist friendships which develop their own inner duration, their own eons of transparent time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/t-here-exist-friendships-which-develop-their-own-inner-duration-their/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“She was all rose and honey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/she-was-all-rose-and-honey/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/vladimir-nabokov/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Fiction Purpose Quotes By Vladimir Nabokov",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“There exist few things more tedious than a discussion of general ideas inflicted by author or reader upon a work of fiction. The purpose of this foreword is not to show that \"Bend Sinister\" belongs or does not belong to \"serious literature\" (which is a euphemism for the hollow profundity and the ever-welcome commonplace). I have never been interested in what is called the literature of social comment (in journalistic and commercial parlance: \"great books\"). I am not \"sincere,\" I am not \"provocative,\" I am not \"satirical.\" I am neither a didacticist nor an allegorizer. Politics and economics, atomic bombs, primitive and abstract art forms, the entire Orient, symptoms of \"thaw\" in Soviet Russia, the Future of Mankind, and so on, leave me supremely indifferent. As in the case of my \"Invitation to a Beheading\" - with which this book has obvious affinities - automatic comparisons between \"Bend Sinister\" and Kafka's creations or Orwell's cliches would go merely to prove that the automaton could not have read either the great German writer or the mediocre English one.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Vladimir Nabokov"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than-a-discussion-of-general/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“There exist few things more tedious than a discussion of general ideas inflicted by author or reader upon a…” — Vladimir Nabokov",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/vladimir-nabokov/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/vladimir-nabokov/",
            "name": "Fiction Purpose Quotes by Vladimir Nabokov",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/vladimir-nabokov/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg"
            },
            "description": "1 Fiction Purpose quotes by Vladimir Nabokov. Plus more from Vladimir Nabokov and more Fiction Purpose sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/vladimir-nabokov/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/vladimir-nabokov/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Fiction Purpose",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Vladimir Nabokov",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/vladimir-nabokov/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
