The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.
In ‘New York Times’ 16 November 1967, p. 46
2.0 N
2.1 Vladimir Nabokov 1899-1977
Her exotic daydreams do not prevent her from being small-town bourgeois at heart, clinging to
conventional ideas or committing this or that conventional violation of the conventional, adultery
being a most conventional way to rise above the conventional.
‘Lectures on Literature’ (1980) ‘Madame Bovary’
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.
‘Lolita’ (1955) ch. 1
Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.
‘Pale Fire’ (1962) p. 225.
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.
‘Speak, Memory’ (1951) ch. 1
I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child.
‘Strong Opinions’ (1973) foreword
A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to the individual, and
only the individual reader is important to me.
‘Strong Opinions’ (1973) p. 33
2.2 Ralph Nader 1934—
Unsafe at any speed.
Title of book (1965)
2.3 Sarojini Naidu 1879-1949
If only Bapu [Gandhi] knew the cost of setting him up in poverty!
In A. Campbell-Johnson ‘Mission with Mountbatten’ (1951) ch. 12
2.4 Ian Nairn 1930—
If what is called development is allowed to multiply at the present rate, then by the end of the
century Great Britain will consist of isolated oases of preserved monuments in a desert of wire,
concrete roads, cosy plots and bungalows...Upon this new Britain the Review bestows a name in
the hope that it will stick—SUBTOPIA.
‘Architectural Review’ June 1955 p. 365
2.5 Fridtjof Nansen 1861-1930
Never stop because you are afraid—you are never so likely to be wrong. Never keep a line of