---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: puzzling that such imitations always…"
description: "\"“puzzling that such imitations always pander so exclusively to the eye instead of also copying the damp fat feel of live petal and leaf.”\" — Vladimir N..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/vladimir-nabokov-198_imitations_puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pan_2633169.jpg"
---

#  puzzling that such imitations always pander so exclusively…

![“puzzling that such imitations always pander so exclusively to the eye instead of also copying the damp fat feel of live petal and leaf.” quote by Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/vladimir-nabokov-198_imitations_puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pan_2633169.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/vladimir-nabokov-198_imitations_puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pan_2633169.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/vladimir-nabokov-198_imitations_puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pan_2633169.jpg)

> ““puzzling that such imitations always pander so exclusively to the eye instead of also copying the damp fat feel of live petal and leaf.””

[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.

Critiques superficial imitation that captures only visual aspects, neglecting tactile authenticity.

**In simple terms:** Copying looks, not feel.

Key Takeaway

Seek depth over surface.

Themes

art authenticity perception

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

literary critical

When to use this quote

- visual arts
- design
- writing

Key Concepts

imitation sensory experience

Questions to Reflect On

- What senses do you prioritize in art?
- How can we balance sight and touch?

A Different Perspective

May discount the value of visual appeal.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [“most expensive originals have cheap imitations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elfriede-jelinek/most-expensive-originals-have-cheap-imitations/)

[Elfriede Jelinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elfriede-jelinek/)

> [There's this Bruno Mars guy. I met him in Hawaii when was doing Elvis imitations at the age of about five or six years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-medley/there-s-this-bruno-mars-guy-i-met-him-in-hawaii-when-was-doing-elvis/)

[Bill Medley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-medley/)

> [There is only one kind of love, but there are one thousand imitations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/there-is-only-one-kind-of-love-but-there-are-one-thousand-imitations/)

[François De La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/)

> [Our vices always lie in the direction of our virtues, and in their best estate are but plausible imitations of the latter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-vices-always-lie-in-the-direction-of-our-virtues-and-in-their/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [I knew that we were clicking when mimics started kidding my voice, I'll know that I'm on the way out when they stop doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaughn-monroe/i-knew-that-we-were-clicking-when-mimics-started-kidding-my-voice-i/)

[Vaughn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaughn-monroe/)

> [We are nothing: imitations, copies, phantoms: repeaters of what we understand badly, that is, hardly at all: the animated fossils of a prehistory that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-nothing-imitations-copies-phantoms-repeaters-of-what-we/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [That man's best works should be such bungling imitations of Nature's infinite perfection, matters not much; but that he should make himself an imitation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/that-man-s-best-works-should-be-such-bungling-imitations-of-nature-s/)

[Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/)

> [“I don't have an idol. I don't like imitations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/i-don-t-have-an-idol-i-don-t-like-imitations/)

[Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/)

> [“God doesn't create imitations, so He designed you naturally. It’s ungratefulness to dream of putting on unnatural self. You have no right to fake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/god-doesn-t-create-imitations-so-he-designed-you-naturally-it-s/)

[Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/)

> [Truth does not do as much good in the world as its imitations do harm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/truth-does-not-do-as-much-good-in-the-world-as-its-imitations-do-harm/)

[Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/)

> [Jordan Peele is famous, in part, for imitations - of rappers and dingbats and the 44th president of the United States. But he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesley-morris/jordan-peele-is-famous-in-part-for-imitations-of-rappers-and-dingbats/)

[Wesley Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wesley-morris/)

> [“Nothing important, or meaningful, or beautiful, or interesting, or great ever came out of imitations. The thing that is really hard and really amazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/nothing-important-or-meaningful-or-beautiful-or-interesting-or-great/)

[Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/)

> [In literature imitations do not imitate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/in-literature-imitations-do-not-imitate/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [I did imitations of anyone who came to my parents' house, and that was my identity at school - if there were ten minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/i-did-imitations-of-anyone-who-came-to-my-parents-house-and-that-was/)

[Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/)

> ["Nationwide" featured an amazing collection of apprentice impersonators. From all over Britain, schoolchildren materialised via local studios to give us their imitations of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/nationwide-featured-an-amazing-collection-of-apprentice-impersonators/)

[Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/)

## More by Vladimir Nabokov

> [And the rest is rust and stardust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-the-rest-is-rust-and-stardust/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-is-no-science-without-fancy-and-no-art-without-fact/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“My solemn exasperation was to her the silence of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/my-solemn-exasperation-was-to-her-the-silence-of-love/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [ “...under no circumstances would he \[Humbert Humbert\] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/under-no-circumstances-would-he-humbert-humbert-have-interfered-with/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Ami azt illeti, Vannak kezdtek nagyon tetszeni a fák is, a csodák is meg az Adák is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/ami-azt-illeti-vannak-kezdtek-nagyon-tetszeni-a-f-k-is-a-csod-k-is/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. Words without experience are meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/we-live-not-only-in-a-world-of-thoughts-but-also-in-a-world-of-things/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“As palavras sem a experiência não teriam qualquer significado.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/as-palavras-sem-a-experi-ncia-n-o-teriam-qualquer-significado/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“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.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-isn-t-possible-i-cannot-imagine-it-come-on-over-here-you-foolish/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/precautions-to-be-taken-in-the-case-of-freak-reincarnation-what-to-do/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [And this is the only immortality you and i may share, my Lolita.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-this-is-the-only-immortality-you-and-i-may-share-my-lolita/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“Be true to your Dick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/be-true-to-your-dick/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“It is indeed a tricky name. It is often misspelt, because the eye tends to regard the "a" of the first syllable as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-is-indeed-a-tricky-name-it-is-often-misspelt-because-the-eye-tends/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“(T)here exist friendships which develop their own inner duration, their own eons of transparent time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/t-here-exist-friendships-which-develop-their-own-inner-duration-their/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“She was all rose and honey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/she-was-all-rose-and-honey/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

[Explore all 883 Vladimir Nabokov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

## More Imitations quotes

> [“most expensive originals have cheap imitations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elfriede-jelinek/most-expensive-originals-have-cheap-imitations/)

[Elfriede Jelinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elfriede-jelinek/)

> [I did imitations of anyone who came to my parents' house, and that was my identity at school - if there were ten minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/i-did-imitations-of-anyone-who-came-to-my-parents-house-and-that-was/)

[Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/)

> [In literature imitations do not imitate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/in-literature-imitations-do-not-imitate/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“Nothing important, or meaningful, or beautiful, or interesting, or great ever came out of imitations. The thing that is really hard and really amazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/nothing-important-or-meaningful-or-beautiful-or-interesting-or-great/)

[Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/)

> [Jordan Peele is famous, in part, for imitations - of rappers and dingbats and the 44th president of the United States. But he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesley-morris/jordan-peele-is-famous-in-part-for-imitations-of-rappers-and-dingbats/)

[Wesley Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wesley-morris/)

> [Truth does not do as much good in the world as its imitations do harm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/truth-does-not-do-as-much-good-in-the-world-as-its-imitations-do-harm/)

[Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/)

> [“God doesn't create imitations, so He designed you naturally. It’s ungratefulness to dream of putting on unnatural self. You have no right to fake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/god-doesn-t-create-imitations-so-he-designed-you-naturally-it-s/)

[Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/)

> [“I don't have an idol. I don't like imitations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/i-don-t-have-an-idol-i-don-t-like-imitations/)

[Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/)

> [That man's best works should be such bungling imitations of Nature's infinite perfection, matters not much; but that he should make himself an imitation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/that-man-s-best-works-should-be-such-bungling-imitations-of-nature-s/)

[Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/)

> [We are nothing: imitations, copies, phantoms: repeaters of what we understand badly, that is, hardly at all: the animated fossils of a prehistory that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-nothing-imitations-copies-phantoms-repeaters-of-what-we/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I knew that we were clicking when mimics started kidding my voice, I'll know that I'm on the way out when they stop doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaughn-monroe/i-knew-that-we-were-clicking-when-mimics-started-kidding-my-voice-i/)

[Vaughn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaughn-monroe/)

> [Our vices always lie in the direction of our virtues, and in their best estate are but plausible imitations of the latter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-vices-always-lie-in-the-direction-of-our-virtues-and-in-their/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [There is only one kind of love, but there are one thousand imitations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/there-is-only-one-kind-of-love-but-there-are-one-thousand-imitations/)

[François De La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/)

> [There's this Bruno Mars guy. I met him in Hawaii when was doing Elvis imitations at the age of about five or six years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-medley/there-s-this-bruno-mars-guy-i-met-him-in-hawaii-when-was-doing-elvis/)

[Bill Medley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-medley/)

> ["Nationwide" featured an amazing collection of apprentice impersonators. From all over Britain, schoolchildren materialised via local studios to give us their imitations of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/nationwide-featured-an-amazing-collection-of-apprentice-impersonators/)

[Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/)

Browse all 45 Imitations quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“puzzling that such imitations always pander so exclusively to the eye instead of also copying the damp fat feel of live petal and leaf.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Vladimir Nabokov"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pander-so-exclusively-to-the-eye/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Imitations"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pander-so-exclusively-to-the-eye/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/vladimir-nabokov-198_imitations_puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pan_2633169.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/vladimir-nabokov-198_imitations_puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pan_2633169.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/vladimir-nabokov-198_imitations_puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pan_2633169.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“puzzling that such imitations always pander so exclusively to the eye instead of also copying the damp fat…” — Vladimir Nabokov",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Vladimir Nabokov",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“puzzling that such imitations always pander...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pander-so-exclusively-to-the-eye/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/puzzling-that-such-imitations-always-pander-so-exclusively-to-the-eye/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
