“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“His mind was a turmoil of words and fancies, incomplete fancies and insufficient words, but already he knew that this and only… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“The recollection also came back empty, and for the first time in all his life, perhaps, Luzhin asked himself the question –… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
...in my dreams the world would come alive, becoming so captivatingly majestic, free and ethereal, that afterwards it would be oppressive to… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Cynthia had been on friendly terms with an eccentric librarian called Porlock who in the last years of his dusty life had… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Zembla is a site devoted to the life and works of author, translator, and lepidopterist.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“He groped for his loafers and walked aimlessly for some time among the trees of the coppice where thrushes were singing so… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Burn pedants in pale fire. Accept no fashions. Be your own fashion. Do not rely on earlier triumphs. Be new at each… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Use unlikely materials. Who would choose Pnin as hero, but how did we live before Pnin? — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Age indomitably, in the European manner. Do not finish your labours young. Be a planet, not a meteor. Honor the working day.… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Neither in environment nor in heredity can I find the exact instrument that fashioned me, the anonymous roller that pressed upon my… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“But even during this sleep—still, still—his real life showed through too much.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“But after all we are not children, not illiterate juvenile delinquents, not English public school boys who after a night of homosexual… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be a greater one.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Oh, don't cry, I'm so sorry I cheated so much, but that's the way things are.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Some might think that the creativity, imagination, and flights of fancy that give my life meaning are insanity. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
If possible, be Russian. And live in another country. Play chess. Be an active trader between languages. Carry precious metals from one… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
All my life I have been a poor go-to-sleeper. No matter how great my weariness, the wrench of parting with consciousness is… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“There is also a keen pleasure (and after all, what else should the pursuit of science produce?) in meeting the riddle of… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Do not be awed by giant predecessors. Be ill-tempered with their renown. Point out flaws. Frighten interviewers from Time. Appear in Playboy.… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“The fame of his likes circulates briskly but soon grows heavy and stale; and as for history it will limit his life… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“...under no circumstances would he [Humbert Humbert] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Ami azt illeti, Vannak kezdtek nagyon tetszeni a fák is, a csodák is meg az Adák is.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. Words without experience are meaningless. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“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.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
