“A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist.”
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor
"The Reach of Imagination" (1967)
“A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist.”
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor
Jeff VanderMeer book City of Saints and Madmen
"The Transformation of Martin Lake", epigram, p. 130
City of Saints and Madmen (2001–2004)
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) American poet
The Necessary Angel (1951), Imagination as Value
Context: What the poet has in mind... is that poetic value is an intrinsic value. It is not the value of knowledge. It is not the value of faith. It is the value of imagination. The poet tries to exemplify it, in part as I have tried to exemplify it here, by identifying it with an imaginative activity that diffuses itself throughout our lives.
“Where can I find a man who's both religious at heart and scientist in mind?”
Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
“The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.”
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
Peter Medawar (1915–1987) scientist
"Hypothesis and Imagination" (Times Literary Supplement, 25 Oct 1963)
1960s