All Vladimir Nabokov Quotes
- Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their… Age
- I have never seen a more lucid, better balanced, mad mind than mine. Balanced
- The tiny madman in his padded cell. Baby
- There is nothing in the world that I loathe more than group activity, that communal bath where the hairy and slippery mix in a multiplication… Activity
- The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. Become Visible
- Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it. Associated
- Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man. Butterflies
- My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music. Crime
- I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is. All
- The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of… Abyss
- A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to the individual. Art
- Genius is an African who dreams up snow. African
- Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution. Inspirational
- Existence is a series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece. Existence
- To play safe, I prefer to accept only one type of power: the power of art over trash, the triumph of magic over the brute. Accept
- A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist. Imagination
- Caress the detail, the divine detail. Caress
- I confess, I do not believe in time. Believe
- I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child. Author
- Some people, and I am one of them, hate happy ends. We feel cheated. Harm is the norm. Cheated
- Style and Structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash. Book
- Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order to enjoy life, we should not enjoy it too much. Delight
- Poetry involves the mysteries of the irrational perceived through rational words. Involves
- Satire is a lesson, parody is a game. Game
- The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea. Breaking