Vladimir Nabokov. (Fuck, Yeah.)

“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for.”

You will leave; we’ll forget one another; but now and then the name of a street, or a street organ weeping in the twilight, will remind us in a more vivid and more truthful way than thought could resurrect or words convey, of that main thing which was between, the main thing which we do not know…

Cute Gift Ideas For Littles!

Being in love—this subtle keen unforgettable sense of the other’s uniqueness.

Among his new neighbors were Arthur and Rosemary Mizener. Arthur Mizener had just joined the Cornell faculty after the publication of his biography of Fitzgerald. Shaking hands with him for the first time, Nabokov at once pronounced judgement: “Tender is the Night, magnificent; The Great Gatsby, terrible.”

I’m a radiant void. I’m convalescing after a long and dreadful illness. You cried over my unseemly scar, but now life is going to be nothing but love and laughter, and corn in cans. I cannot brood over broken hearts, mine is too recently mended.

oh my god. i think vladimir and véra just made an appearance in king, queen, knave. read this:

It’s such a miracle if you get the lines halfway right.

Self-esteem has two interrelated components. One is a sense of basic confidence in the face of life’s challenges: self-efficacy. The other is a sense of being worthy of happiness: self-respect. Self-efficacy means confidence in the functioning of my mind, in my ability to think, understand, learn, choose, and make decisions; confi- dence in my ability to understand the facts of reality that fall within the sphere of my interests and needs; self-trust; self-reliance. Self-respect means assurance of my value; an affirmative attitude to- ward my right to live and to be happy; comfort in appropriately asserting my thoughts, wants, and needs; the feeling that joy and fulfillment are my natural birthright.

And now I’m writing to you, my mothling. How are your wings and antennae, and all their little spots and their silky fluff?