Famous Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

  • You must be careful. There are things that should never be given up. You must persevere. – Vladimir Nabokov

    You must be careful. There are things that should never be given up. You must persevere.– Vladimir Nabokov

  • I would fight of course. Oh, I would fight. Better destroy everything than surrender her. – Vladimir Nabokov

    I would fight of course. Oh, I would fight. Better destroy everything than surrender her.– Vladimir Nabokov

  • The Lethean Library, for all its incalculable volumes, is, I know, sadly incomplete without Mr. Goodman’s effort. – Vladimir Nabokov

    The Lethean Library, for all its incalculable volumes, is, I know, sadly incomplete without Mr. Goodman’s effort.– Vladimir Nabokov

  • All of which does not alter the fact that Pnin was on the wrong train. – Vladimir Nabokov

    All of which does not alter the fact that Pnin was on the wrong train.– Vladimir Nabokov

  • Everything he said should be followed by a big sic – Vladimir Nabokov

    Everything he said should be followed by a big sic– Vladimir Nabokov

  • Satire is a lesson, parody is a game. – Vladimir Nabokov

    Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.– Vladimir Nabokov

  • You forget, my good man, that what the artist perceives is, primarily, the difference between things. It is the vulgar who note their resemblance. – Vladimir Nabokov

    You forget, my good man, that what the artist perceives is, primarily, the difference between things. It is the vulgar who note their resemblance.– Vladimir Nabokov

  • …I happen to be the kind of author who in starting to work on a book has no purpose than to get rid of that book…. – Vladimir Nabokov

    …I happen to be the kind of author who in starting to work on a book has no purpose than to get rid of that book….– Vladimir Nabokov

  • The best part of a writer’s biography is not the record of his adventures but the story of his style. [Vogue, interview, 1969] – Vladimir Nabokov

    The best part of a writer’s biography is not the record of his adventures but the story of his style. [Vogue, interview, 1969]– Vladimir Nabokov

  • …for she soars with the wildest hyperbole when not tagging after the most pedestrian dictum. – Vladimir Nabokov

    …for she soars with the wildest hyperbole when not tagging after the most pedestrian dictum.– Vladimir Nabokov