“Years of secret suffering had taught me superhuman self-control.”

—  Vladimir Nabokov , book Lolita

Source: Lolita

Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Years of secret suffering had taught me superhuman self-control." by Vladimir Nabokov?
Vladimir Nabokov photo
Vladimir Nabokov 193
Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor 1899–1977

Related quotes

Glen Cook photo

“He had learned self-control in a hard school. He had been married for thirty years.”

Glen Cook book The Silver Spike

Source: The Silver Spike (1989), Chapter 26 (p. 528)

Bernard Malamud photo

“What suffering has taught me is the uselessness of suffering.”

Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) American author
Robert A. Heinlein photo

“His older self had taught his younger self a language which the older self knew because the younger self, after being taught, grew up to be the older self and was, therefore, capable of teaching.”

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) American science fiction author
Yanni photo

“My father taught me that one of the most important abilities in life is to be able to take the pain and persevere, and for years this lesson had served me well.”

Yanni (1954) Greek pianist, keyboardist, composer, and music producer

Yanni in Words. Miramax Books. Co-author David Rensin

Alastair Reynolds photo

“If my years as a shatterling had taught me anything, it was that not all questions had answers. Societies had reduced themselves to radioactive dust because they could not accept that single unpalatable truth.”

Alastair Reynolds book House of Suns

Source: House of Suns (2008), Chapter 8 (pp. 84-85)

Susan Sontag photo

“Self-respect. It would make me lovable. And it's the secret to good sex.”

Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist

Source: As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980

John Constable photo

“A self-taught painter is one taught by a very ignorant person.”

John Constable (1776–1837) English Romantic painter

Quoted in The Quarterly Review vol. 119 (1866), p. 292.
posthumous, undated

K. L. Saigal photo

“Never before had I heard such melody from human throat. It was superhuman. Was he a Gandharva come to earth? No expression on his face. Not much movement of lips. Perfect control over breath. Perfect pauses. Clear pronunciation. I was spellbound.”

K. L. Saigal (1904–1947) Indian actor

By Raychand Boral in "Begum Akhtar the Undisputed Malika of Ghazals".

Alan Paton photo

“Pain and suffering, they are a secret. Kindness and love, they are a secret. But I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering.”

Alan Paton (1903–1988) South African writer and activist

Source: Cry, The Beloved Country

Yasunari Kawabata photo

“The "secret" of their being up in the tree had continued for almost two years now.”

Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) Japanese author, Nobel Prize winner

"Up in the Tree" [Ki-no Ue] (1962).
Context: The "secret" of their being up in the tree had continued for almost two years now. Where the thick trunk branched out near the top, the two could sit comfortably. Michiko, straddling one branch, leaned back against another. There were days when little birds came and days when the wind sang through the pine needles. Although they weren't that high off the ground, these two little lovers felt as if they were in a completely different world, far away from the earth.

Related topics