“For I do not exist: there exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the population of phantoms resembling me increases. Somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply. I alone do not exist.”
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Vladimir Nabokov 193
Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor 1899–1977Related quotes
“I do not exist to impress the world. I exist to live my life in a way that will make me happy.”
Source: Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
“I think it is good that books still exist, but they do make me sleepy.”
As quoted in Democracy Now! interview by Amy Goodman (30 January 2006)
Context: I don’t think that we are a species or a people that can exist without making mistakes somewhere along the line. Some make mistakes that are greater than others. But I do believe that we should have the courage and the ability to look at something that we did, even if in the first instance we believed it, when in the wake of the aftermath and the truth, you find out that that was not the case, to then say, 'Let me go back and examine what led me to this conclusion. What gods was I serving? What masters was I serving? What was it all about?' and then try to be more instructive to people who will listen to you.
Source: Seth, Dreams & Projections of Consciousness, (1986), p. 305-306, quoting from Session 235
“How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.”
“There is no me. I do not exist … There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed.”
As "Himself" in The Muppet Show, episode # 2.19 (6 December 1977); also quoted in "Sellers Strikes Again"by Richard Schickel in TIME magazine (3 March 1980) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,950308,00.html?iid=chix-sphere
Variants:
There used to be a me behind the mask, but I had it surgically removed.
As quoted in Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion (1988) by Leslie Halliwell, p. 622