xy

@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“The sun is a thief: she lures the sea
and robs it. The moon is a thief:
he steals his silvery light from the sun.
The sea is a thief: it dissolves the moon.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Pale Fire

Source: Pale Fire

“And yet I adore him. I think he's quite crazy, and with no place or occupation in life, and far from happy, and philosophically irresponsible – and there is absolutely nobody like him.”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

Source: Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle

“I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Source: I'm thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art, And this is the only immortality that you and I may share, my Lolita.

“I was weeping again, drunk on the impossible past.”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

“Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Mary

Source: Mary

“And she was mine, she was mine, the key was in my fist, my fist was in my pocket, she was mine.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Source: Lolita

“I mean, I have the feeling that something in my mind is poisoning everything else.”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

“Life is short. From here to that old car you know so well there is a stretch of twenty, twenty-five paces. It is a very short walk. Make those twenty-five steps. Now. Right now. Come just as you are. And we shall live happily ever after.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Source: Lolita

“Let all of life be an unfettered howl.”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

“She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Source: Lolita

“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

“And the rest is rust and stardust.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Variant: I shall be dumped where the weed decays, And the rest is rust and stardust
Source: Lolita

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Opening lines.
Source: Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita. Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, an initial girl-child. In a princedom by the sea. Oh when? About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. You can always count on a murderer for fancy prose style. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns.

“Don't touch me; I'll die if you touch me.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Source: Lolita

“I think it is all a matter of love; the more you love a memory the stronger and stranger it becomes”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Source: Lolita

“It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita

Source: Lolita

“Perhaps, somewhere, some day, at a less miserable time, we may see each other again.”