Doom is nigh. I am in acute distress, desperately trying to coax sleep, opening my eyes every few seconds to check their faded gleam, and imagining paradise as a place where a sleepless neighbor reads an endless book by the light of an eternal candle.

Vladimir Nabokov
About This Quote

It’s all very well for you to say that, but this is actually true. There is no question in my mind that I am in acute distress. I am desperately trying to coax sleep, opening my eyes every few seconds to check their faded gleam, and imagining paradise as a place where a sleepless neighbor reads an endless book by the light of an eternal candle. The truth is that I’m not even sure when it gets like this.

I used to think it was when I couldn’t get back to sleep, or when I woke up too early or too late, or when the light failed me; but now I don’t think it has anything to do with any of these things at all. It’s just the way things are at night, of course.

Source: Speak, Memory

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