“No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”
More from Vladimir Nabokov
“Rowdies are never revolutionary, they are always reactionary. It is among the young that…”
“The distortion of a remembered image may not only enhance its beauty with an added…”
“I have no purpose at all when composing my stuff except to compose it. I work hard, I work…”
“Learn to distinguish banality. Remember that mediocrity thrives on 'ideas.'”