More Quotes by Vladimir Nabokov
The contemplation of beauty, whether it be a uniquely tinted sunset, a radiant face, or a work of art, makes us glance back unwittingly at our personal past and juxtapose ourselves and our inner being with the utterly unattainable beauty revealed to us.
I have no desires, save the desire to express myself in defiance of all the world’s muteness.
I don't think in any language. I think in images.
Our imagination flies -- we are its shadow on the earth.
Existence is a series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece.
Literature, real literature, must not be gulped down like some potion which may be good for the heart or good for the brain—the brain, that stomach of the soul. Literature must be taken and broken to bits, pulled apart, squashed—then its lovely reek will be smelt in the hollow of the palm, it will be munched and rolled upon the tongue with relish; then, and only then, its rare flavor will be appreciated at its true worth and the broken and crushed parts will again come together in your mind and disclose the beauty of a unity to which you have contributed something of your own blood.
My mind speaks English, my heart speaks Russian, and my ear prefers French.
Let all of life be an unfettered howl. Like the crowd greeting the gladiator. Don't stop to think, don't interrupt the scream, exhale, release life's rapture.
Because you took advantage of my disadvantage.
The future is but the obsolete in reverse.
