--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once upon a time there lived in Berlin…" description: "\"Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/vladimir-nabokov-198_abandoned_once-upon-a-time-there-lived-in-berlin-g_1862805.jpg" --- # Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man… ![“Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster. This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had…” quote by Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/vladimir-nabokov-198_abandoned_once-upon-a-time-there-lived-in-berlin-g_1862805.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/vladimir-nabokov-198_abandoned_once-upon-a-time-there-lived-in-berlin-g_1862805.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/vladimir-nabokov-198_abandoned_once-upon-a-time-there-lived-in-berlin-g_1862805.jpg) > “Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster. This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure in the telling; and although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, the abridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome.” [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A life story can be expanded with details, but profit and pleasure often drive its retelling beyond necessity. **In simple terms:** Stories get longer for profit and pleasure. Key Takeaway Beware of embellishment for gain. Themes storytelling ethics human nature mortality Mood reflective critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - biographies - family histories - documentaries - media coverage - personal memoirs Key Concepts narrative theory exploitation memory legacy Questions to Reflect On - What details are essential in a life story? - How does profit influence narrative truth? A Different Perspective Excessive detail can obscure core truths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/berlin/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) [Germany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/germany/) [Gravestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravestone/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Man's Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mans-life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mistress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistress/) [Once upon a time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/once-upon-a-time/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Profit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profit/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) ## Related quotes > [“This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/this-is-the-whole-of-the-story-and-we-might-have-left-it-at-that-had/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Had I been brighter, the ladies been gentler, the Scotch been weaker, had the gods been kinder, had the dice been hotter, this could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/had-i-been-brighter-the-ladies-been-gentler-the-scotch-been-weaker/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [I think that all the time I lived alone changed me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-vincent/i-think-that-all-the-time-i-lived-alone-changed-me/) [Frank Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-vincent/) > [It was the tiredness of time lived, with its days and days. It was the tiredness of gravity- gravity, which wants you down in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/it-was-the-tiredness-of-time-lived-with-its-days-and-days-it-was-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [What is it that makes all of us end each day with the sense that we have not lived our time, but have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-needleman/what-is-it-that-makes-all-of-us-end-each-day-with-the-sense-that-we/) [Jacob Needleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-needleman/) > [“She had learned, in her life, that time lived inside you. You are time, you breathe time, though she hadn't understood why... Now she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wroblewski/she-had-learned-in-her-life-that-time-lived-inside-you-you-are-time-2/) [David Wroblewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wroblewski/) > [“At the time I had never lived with a woman, so I could hardly miss something I had not grown accustomed to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/at-the-time-i-had-never-lived-with-a-woman-so-i-could-hardly-miss/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [For a long time I lived for those days. I was just like, 'I'm gonna get on the couch, and I'm going to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-fraser/for-a-long-time-i-lived-for-those-days-i-was-just-like-i-m-gonna-get/) [Mat Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-fraser/) > [Perhaps every moment of time lived in human consciousness remains in the air around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/perhaps-every-moment-of-time-lived-in-human-consciousness-remains-in/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [The years, the months, the days, and the hours have flown by my open window. Here and there an incident, a towering moment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurman/the-years-the-months-the-days-and-the-hours-have-flown-by-my-open/) [Howard Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurman/) > [There was no time when I lived anywhere longer than two years. I was always a social outcast. 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