Books Quote by Vladimir Nabokov
““We are absurdly accustomed to the miracle of a few written signs being able to contain immortal imagery, involutions of thought, new worlds with live people, speaking, weeping, laughing. We take it for granted so simply that in a sense, by the very act of brutish routine acceptance, we undo the work of the ages, the history of the gradual elaboration of poetical description and construction, from the treeman to Browning, from the caveman to Keats. What if we awake one day, all of us, and find ourselves utterly unable to read? I wish you to gasp not only at what you read but at the miracle of its being readable.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: Lectures on Literature, 1970
Reading is a fragile miracle that preserves humanity’s collective imagination and history; we often overlook its value until it’s lost.
In simple terms: Reading preserves imagination and history.
Key Takeaway
Cherish and protect literacy.
Themes
literacy
miracle
culture
history
imagination
Mood
reflective
appreciative
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- education
- personal growth
- preservation of heritage
Key Concepts
epistemology
humanism
literary theory
Questions to Reflect On
- How would you feel if you could no longer read?
- What can you do to value reading more?
A Different Perspective
If literacy declines, societies lose shared knowledge and identity.
![“...under no circumstances would he [Humbert Humbert] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” quote by Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0f0/vladimir-nabokov-198_children_under-no-circumstances-would-he-humbert_16228.jpg)
