“There is titillating pleasure in looking back at the past and asking oneself, 'What would have happened if...' and substituting one chance… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
But as Van casually directed the searchlight of backthought into that maze of the past where the mirror-lined narrow paths not only… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three, and, save for a pocket of warmth… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“The crickets kept crepitating; from time to time there came a sweet whiff of burning juniper; and above the black alpestrine steppe,… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“As to the past, I would not mind retrieving from various corners of space-time certain lost comforts, such as baggy trousers and… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
A novelist is, like all mortals, more fully at home on the surface of the present than in the ooze of the… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“The calendar says I had known him only a few months but there exist friendships which develop their own inner duration, their… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“anyone can create the future but only a wise man can create the past” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
The clumsiest literal translation is a thousand times more useful than the prettiest paraphrase. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“... one cannot read a book: one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“I think that here lies the sense of literary creation: to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in the kindly… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“He was one of those persons whom one loves not because of some lustrous streak of talent (this retired businessman possessed none),… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“We live in a stocking which is in the process of being turned inside out, without our ever knowing for sure to… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
While a few pertinent points have to be marked, the general impression I desire to convey is of a side door crashing… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“How can I demonstrate [...] that I have glimpsed somebody's future recollection?” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Here lies the sense of literary creation to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in kindly mirrors of future times.… — 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
