"Poetry involves the mysteries of the irrational perceived through rational words." ― Vladimir Nabokov Topic(s): Poetry More From Vladimir Nabokov "It’s a pity one can’t imagine what one can’t compare to anything. Genius is an African who dreams up snow." "It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but it is still harder to exceed my loathing of the very nature of totalitarian states in which massacre is only an administrative detail." "A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist." More In Poetry "To have great poets, there must be great audiences."― Walt Whitman "Poetry is simply the most beautiful, impressive, and widely effective mode of saying things."― Matthew Arnold "The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world… to see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one."― John Ruskin