Nina Berberova Quotes

I had learnt to seek intensity — more of life, a concentrated sense of life.

How surprisingly alive false ideas are! They even have their own evolution. At first they are highfalutin' 'truths,' then humdrum 'laws,' and finally superstitions.

Pearls ... have a way of dying when separated from their owner.

For many years I used the pronoun 'we.' Now, as in my youth, I go to sleep and wake up alone.

Paris is not a city, it is the image, the symbol of France, its today and yesterday, the reflection of its history, its geography and its hidden essence.

The idea came to me that I was, am, and will be, but perhaps will not become. This did not scare me. There was for me in being an intensity I did not feel in becoming.

Doesn't the theory of relativity concern literature too? In our world there is no longer any room for the privileged observer, as there is none for the observer of the universe - we are all within.

The past is good (as we all know), twenty, thirty years back everything was good, anyone can tell you that.

The idea came to me that I was am and will be but perhaps will not become. This did not scare me. There was for me in being an intensity I did not feel in becoming.