“My desires are modest. Portraits of the head of the government should not exceed a postage stamp in size.”

—  Vladimir Nabokov

Playboy 1964 interview
Context: The fact that since my youth – I was 19 when I left Russia — my political creed has remained as bleak and changeless as an old gray rock. It is classical to the point of triteness. Freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of art. 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.

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Vladimir Nabokov photo
Vladimir Nabokov 193
Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor 1899–1977

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