It's not that you aren't likable. On the contrary. You are. It's just that one wonders if you haven't made a career out of being so likable.

I am curious about grownups, not children.

Here was one place where I could find out who I was and what I was going to become. And that was the public library.

Take a look at the books other people have in their homes.

I can create countries just as I can create the actions of my characters. That is why a lot of travel seems to me a waste of time.

The popular culture says . . . Do what you do, your life is predestined, like the installment plan on your house. There's not much you can do about it. Make your payments, live it, get sick, die, don't make any trouble. It is the Master Charge of destiny. Try to get your high credit rating.

[Nabokov's] language is made visible . . . like a veil or transparent curtain. You cannot help seeing the curtain as you peek into the intimate rooms behind.