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Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

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Famous Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

“The social or economic structure of the ideal state is of little concern to me. My desires are modest. Portraits of the head of the government should not exceed a postage stamp in size. No torture and no executions. No music, except coming through earphones, or played in theaters. Freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of art.”

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Author:Vladimir Nabokov
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“You have to be an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy, with a bubble of hot poison in your loins and a super-voluptuous flame permanently aglow in your subtle spine (oh, how you have to cringe and hide!), in order to discern at once, by ineffable signs―the slightly feline outline of a cheekbone, the slenderness of a downy limbs, and other indices which despair and shame and tears of tenderness forbid me to tabulate―the little deadly demon among the wholesome children; she stands unrecognized by them and unconscious herself of her fantastic power.”

ChildrenLittlesArtistOrderTearsCreaturesDespairInfiniteHotShameFantasticFlamesPoisonDemonUnconsciousSubtleMelancholyBubblesTendernessLimbsOutlinesSpineMadmenIneffableCringeFelineVoluptuousCheekbones
Book:The Annotated Lolita: Revised and Updated
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“but that mimosa grove - the haze of stars, the tingle, the flame, the honey-dew, and the ache remained with me, and that little girl with her seaside limbs and ardent tongue haunted me ever since." "this then is my story. i have reread it. it has bits of marrow sticking to it, and blood, and beautiful bright-green flies. at this or that twist of it i feel my slippery self eluding me, gliding into deeper and darker waters than i care to probe.”

FeelsLittlesSelfStoriesCareBeautifulGirlStarsBitsWaterBloodGreenDeeperTongueFlamesHoneyI CareAcheLimbsTwistsDewArdentSlipperyGroveMarrowHazeGlidingMimosas
Author:Vladimir Nabokov
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“Life with you was lovely—and when I say lovely, I mean doves and lilies, and velvet, and that soft pink ‘v’ in the middle and the way your tongue curved up to the long, lingering ‘l.’ Our life together was alliterative, and when I think of all the little things which will die, now that we cannot share them, I feel as if we were dead too.”

IfsThinkingWayFeelsMeanLittlesLongTogetherDiesOur LivesShareMiddleTongueLovelyLittle ThingsLiliesDoveVelvetLingeringLife Together
Author:Vladimir Nabokov
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“There are two kinds of visual memory: one when you skillfully recreate an image in the laboratory of your mind, with your eyes open (and then I see Annabel in such general terms as: "honey-colored skin," "thin arms," "brown bobbed hair," "long lashes," "big bright mouth"); and the other when you instantly evoke, with shut eyes, on the dark innerside of your eyelids, the objective, absolutely optical replica of a beloved face, a little ghost in natural colors (and this is how I see Lolita).”

MindKindLittlesLongTwoBigsEyeFacesTermNaturalMemoriesDarkColorHairArmsMouthsSkinsGhostObjectivesBelovedVisualsBrownHoneyLaboratoryEvokeLashesEyelidsReplicaLong Lashes
Book:The Annotated Lolita: Revised and Updated
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