My only grudge against nature was that I could not turn my Lolita inside out and apply voracious lips to her young matrix, her unknown heart, her nacreous liver, the sea-grapes of her lungs, her comely twin kidneys.
Vladimir NabokovRead
Adultery is a most conventional way to rise above the conventional.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Adultery represents a rebellion against societal norms and expectations, which can be seen as both conventional and unconventional.
In this quote, Vladimir Nabokov suggests that engaging in adultery is a way to challenge societal norms and conventions. It highlights the irony that while adultery is often viewed as a taboo or unconventional act, it has become so commonplace that it can be seen as a conventional means of asserting individuality or seeking freedom from the constraints of societal expectations.
Themes
AdulteryConventionSocietyRebellionIndividuality
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on the morality of relationships, one might quote Nabokov to illustrate the conflict between personal desire and societal expectations.
More from Vladimir Nabokov
All quotes →Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
Vladimir NabokovRead
A change of environment is the traditional fallacy upon which doomed loves, and lungs, rely.
Vladimir NabokovRead
But that mimosa grove-the haze of stars, the tingle, the flame, the honey-dew, and the ache remained with me, and that little girl with her seaside limbs and ardent tongue haunted me ever since-until at last, twenty-four years later, I broke her spell by incarnating her in another.
Vladimir NabokovRead
...in my dreams the world would come alive, becoming so captivatingly majestic, free and ethereal, that afterwards it would be oppressive to breathe the dust of this painted life.
Vladimir NabokovRead
I believe the poor fierce-eyed child had figured out that with a mere fifty dollars in her purse she might somehow reach Broadway or Hollywood - or the foul kitchen of a diner (Help Wanted) in a dismal ex-prairie state, with the wind blowing, and the stars blinking, and the cars, and the bars, and the barmen, and everything soiled, torn, dead.
Vladimir NabokovRead
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