Vladimir Nabokov Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Vladimir Nabokov quotes, Vladimir Nabokov sayings, and Vladimir Nabokov proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

A toothache will cost a battle, a drizzle cancel an insurrection. 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 of darkness. 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 of darkness. Vladimir Nabokov
Life is a message scribbled in the dark. Vladimir Nabokov
The spiral is a spiritualized circle. In the spiral form, the circle, uncoiled, has ceased to be vicious; it has been set free. Vladimir Nabokov
We think not in words but in shadows of words. Vladimir Nabokov
Direct interference in a person's life does not enter our scope of activity, nor, on the other, tralatitiously speaking, hand, is his destiny a chain of predeterminate links: some "future" events may be likelier than others, O.K., but all are chimeric, and every cause-and-effect sequence is always a hit-and-miss affair, even if the lunette has actually closed around your neck, and the cretinous crowd holds its breath. Vladimir Nabokov
Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it. Vladimir Nabokov
Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it. Vladimir Nabokov
Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring. Vladimir Nabokov
I discovered in nature the non utilitarian delights that I sought in art. Both were a form of magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment and deception. Vladimir Nabokov
The spiral is a spiritualized circle. In the spiral form, the circle, uncoiled, has ceased to be vicious; it has been set free. Vladimir Nabokov
Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man. Vladimir Nabokov
He broke my heart. You merely broke my life. Vladimir Nabokov
The more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is. Vladimir Nabokov
Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one. Vladimir Nabokov
Human thought, flying on the trapezes of the star filled universe, with mathematics stretched beneath, was like an acrobat working with a net but suddenly noticing that in reality there is no net. Vladimir Nabokov
The evening is the time to praise the day. Vladimir Nabokov
Adultery is the most conventional way to rise above the conventional. Vladimir Nabokov
Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective: it has to be shattered before being ascertained. Vladimir Nabokov
Imagination: the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature. Vladimir Nabokov
The compensation for a death sentence is knowledge of the exact hour when one is to die. A great luxury, but one that is well earned. 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 of darkness. Vladimir Nabokov