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
Although I could never get used to the constant state of anxiety in which the guilty, the great, and the tenderhearted live, I felt I was doing my best in the way of mimicry.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the pervasive anxiety experienced by those who are sensitive, guilty, and prominent in society, suggesting that the speaker is struggling to adapt to such feelings.
In this quote, Nabokov observes the emotional turmoil that affects individuals who possess a deep sense of empathy or guilt, particularly those in positions of influence or greatness. He admits to feeling out of place as he mimics their experiences, indicating a struggle to engage with the anxieties that accompany such sensitivity and societal roles. This reflection highlights the complexities of human emotions, the burdens of conscience, and the challenges of understanding the emotional states of others.
Themes
AnxietyGuiltSensitivityHuman EmotionsMimicry
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on mental health, one might say, 'As Vladimir Nabokov noted, the tenderhearted often live in a constant state of anxiety.'
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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You don't reason with intellectuals. You shoot them.
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