Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

My principal failing as a writer is the lack of spontaneity; the nuisance of parallel thoughts, second thoughts, third thoughts; inability to express myself properly in any language unless I compose every damned sentence in my bath, in my mind, at my desk.

Vladimir Nabokov

• Mind
• Language
• Failing
• Spontaneity

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Quotes to Explore

• I don't think I think when I play. I have a photographic memory for chords, and when I'm playing, the right chords appear in my mind like photographs long before I get to them.

  

  Earl Hines
  • Long
  • Mind
  • Memory

• I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.

  

  Ralph Ellison
  • People
  • Mind
  • Man

• I wasn't real quick, and I wasn't real strong. Some guys will just take off and it's like, whoa. So I beat them with my mind and my fundamentals.

  

  Larry Bird
  • Mind
  • Real
  • Strong

• I've always been like this - insecure - because I'm striving for something that can't be attained. I don't just want to be OK at this: I want to be the best at it, and I've never achieved that in my mind.

  

  Victoria Pendleton
  • Mind
  • Want
  • Best

• Love me or hate me, both are in my favour. If you love me, I will always be in your heart, and if you hate me, I will be in your mind.

  

  Qandeel Baloch
  • Mind
  • Heart
  • Love

• To achieve the very pinnacle of good taste, the neoclassicists wrote their plays entirely in alexandrine verse, a rarefied meter that is uniquely tailored to the French language and fits no other.

  

  Florence King
  • Good
  • Language
  • Achieve

• I don't tend to set out on huge world domination goals or have anything in mind. I just like to play. I like to gig a lot; I like to write music.

  

  Imelda May
  • World
  • Music
  • Mind

• You need people around you that care about you and are thinking about you in your best interest. And keep your mind straight.

  

  Q'orianka Kilcher
  • People
  • Thinking
  • Mind

• The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect.

  

  Carl Sandburg
  • People
  • Respect
  • Language

• Modern society has evolved to the point where we counter the old-fashioned fatalism surrounding the word 'cancer' by embracing the idea of the Uber-mind - that our will possesses nearly supernatural powers.

  

  Abraham Verghese
  • Mind
  • Society
  • Cancer

• There aren't too many principles of proper business conduct with which just about everybody will agree. Two come to mind: 1. Unless you're a professional athlete, don't offer co-workers encouragement by patting them on the butt, and 2. Don't burn bridges.

  

  Dale Dauten
  • Mind
  • Business
  • Professional

• I was going to fight for what I wanted first, and that was being in L.A. and being a Laker. L.A. was the first place that came to my mind. That's where my heart was at.

  

  Lamar Odom
  • Mind
  • Heart
  • Fight

• That means that every human being - without distinction of sex, age, race, skin color, language, religion, political view, or national or social origin - possesses an inalienable and untouchable dignity.

  

  Hans Kung
  • Age
  • Political
  • Religion

• I think the body is the ultimate thing. The soul and mind are part of the body. I don't think there is anything outside of that. Your physical self is who you are. Some people feel that that is reductionist, but I don't think it is. It's just true.

  

  Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • People
  • Mind
  • True

• Yoga helps me with a composed and serene state of mind, which is good for writing.

  

  Damon Galgut
  • Good
  • Writing
  • Mind

• I was always the new kid, and I got to know the language and the politics of being on the outside, looking in. Never being in the clique - always being a student of the clique, a subversive, and I could look around and identify the other guys who were excluded.

  

  Padgett Powell
  • Language
  • Politics
  • New

• Language is the mother of thought, not its handmaiden.

  

  Karl Kraus
  • Mother
  • Language
  • Thought

• English is not my first language.

  

  Camila Alves
  • English
  • Language
  • First

• It's awesome to see something like 'Inception', which is just mind-blowing and amazing, and it actually resonates with the audiences. I feel like that's rare.

  

  Danny McBride
  • Mind
  • Amazing
  • Awesome

• About all that is needed to put the world on its feet are the right qualities of mind and heart on the part of all men.

  

  Charles M. Schwab
  • World
  • Men
  • Mind

• Slater soaks into the mind as water into low and marshy places, where it becomes stagnant and offensive.

  

  Confucius
  • Mind
  • Offensive
  • Soaks

• If you start out with a tragic view of life, then anything since is just a bonus.

  

  Freeman Dyson
  • Life

• Speaking out is important for me because everyone should be treated equally.

  

  Lance Bass NSYNC
  • Important
  • Me
  • Everyone

• My principal failing as a writer is the lack of spontaneity; the nuisance of parallel thoughts, second thoughts, third thoughts; inability to express myself properly in any language unless I compose every damned sentence in my bath, in my mind, at my desk.

  

  Vladimir Nabokov
  • Mind
  • Language
  • Failing