“A certain man once lost a diamond cuff-link in the wide blue sea, and twenty years later, on the exact day, a Friday apparently, he was eating a large fish - but there was no diamond inside. That’s what I like about coincidence.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster.
This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure in the telling; and although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, the abridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“[...] leaving for a day or two that hopeless sense of loss which makes beauty what it is: a distant lone tree against golden heavens; ripples of light on the inner curve of a bridge; a thing impossible to capture.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure in the telling; and although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, the abridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“No you can't take a pistol and plug a girl you don't even know simply because she attracts you.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, the abridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“[S]urely the Cupid serving him was lefthanded, with a weak chin and no imagination.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Uncle alone in the house with the children said he'd dress up to amuse them. After a long wait, as he did not appear, they went down and saw a masked man putting the table silver into a bag. 'Oh, Uncle,' they cried in delight. 'Yes, isn't my make-up good?' said Uncle, taking his mask off. Thus goes the Hegelian syllogism of humour. Thesis: Uncle made himself up as a burglar (a laugh for the children); antithesis: it WAS a burglar (a laugh for the reader); synthesis: it still was Uncle (fooling the reader).”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Имало едно време в Берлин, Германия, един човек на име Албинус. Той бил богат, почтен, щастлив. Един ден напуснал жена си заради млада любовница. Обичал, не бил обичан и животът му завършил злополучно.
Това е цялата история и бихме могли да я оставим дотук, ако от разказването й нямаше полза и удоволствие; и въпреки че на надгробната плоча има достатъчно място за обраслата с мъх кратка версия на човешкия живот, подробностите винаги са добре дошли.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Албинус никога преди не беше виждал сълзи с такъв размер и блясък.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Когато забременя, очите ѝ придобиха онзи празен израз на задоволство, сякаш съзерцаваше новия си вътрешен свят; безгрижната й походка се превърна във внимателно патешко поклащане и беше способна лакомо да поглъща пълни шепи сняг, които събираше набързо, докато никой не я гледа. Албинус полагаше всички усилия да се грижи за нея – извеждаше я на дълги бавни разходки; внимаваше да си ляга рано и да не се удря в опасните ъгли на мебелите, докато минаваше покрай тях. А нощем сънуваше, че се натъква на младо момиче, което лежи с разперени ръце и крака на горещ пуст плаж, и в съня го обхващаше внезапен страх, че жена му ще го хване.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Въздухът беше натежал от сладникавата миризма на смокиново дърво, имаше я тази банална смесица от лунна светлина и далечна музика, която така въздейства на обикновените души.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Той се ожени за нея, защото просто така се случи. Главният виновник за техния съюз беше едно пътуване до планината в нейната компания, плюс дебелия й брат и изключително атлетичната й братовчедка, която, слава богу, си изкълчи глезена в Понтресина. Имаше нещо толкова изискано, толкова ефирно в Елизабет, а смехът й бе така добродушен! За да избегнат набезите на множеството си берлински познати, те се ожениха в Мюнхен. Кестените тъкмо цъфтяха. Една много скъпа табакера се изгуби в тайнствена градина. Един от келнерите в хотела говореше седем езика. Оказа се, че Елизабет има нежен малък белег от операция на апандисит.
Тя беше вярна малка душичка, хрисима и нежна. Любовта й беше като бяла лилия, но понякога избухваше в пламъци и в такива моменти Албинус се самозалъгваше, че не му трябва никоя друга.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“(Миналото беше на сигурно място в клетката. Защо да не погледне?)”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
“Марго бавно започна да се надига по-високо и по-високо, като змия, която се развива.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from Laughter in the Dark
Vladimir Nabokov
Born place: in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
Born date April 22, 1899
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“He gives me a kiss that barely touches my lips – it means nothing or everything.
After he’s gone, I think, Happy birthday to me.
Jack says, ‘That was the guy?’
‘That was him.’
Jake shakes his head.
‘What?’
‘He’s not for you,’ he says.
I say, ‘How do you know?’ but what I mean is, How do you know?
‘He’s like Ashley Wilkes,’ he says. ‘Any one of these guys is Rhett-ier than he is.’
Again, I ask my benignly inflected, ‘How do you know?’
‘How do I know?’ he says, tackling me into a bear hug. ‘How do I know? I know, that’s how I know.”
― Melissa Bank, quote from The Wonder Spot
“My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”
― Brennan Manning, quote from The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
“The author writes that key FDR aide Harry Hopkins was in such poor health near the end of his boss's second term that one observer said he didn't know how Hopkins could possibly report to the president. But, at the onset of war and genuine national emergency, Hopkins was animated with a new sense of purpose.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
“Stay here til I come to fetch you."
I no longer recognize you in the Republic of Joy," I loftily informed him. "Our diplomatic ties are severed."
Unsever them," he growled, "or the Country of Raphael will be forced to declare your republic a protectorate."
Dictator," I muttered.
For life," he agreed.”
― Katie MacAlister, quote from A Girl's Guide to Vampires
“Power is neither male nor female. Katharine Graham”
― Michael Crichton, quote from Disclosure
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