# Nabokov on his internal monologue

![A crude portrait of Vladimir Nabokov in the style of the NPC meme.](/media/nabokov/npc.png){width="671" height="1024"}

> **What language do you think in?**
>
> I don't think in any language.
> I think in images.
> I don't believe that people think in languages.
> They don't move their lips when they think.
> It is only a certain type of illiterate person who moves his lips as he reads or ruminates.
> No, I think in images, and now and then a Russian phrase or an English phrase will form with the foam of the brainwave, but that's about all.

::: {.quote-attrib}
Vladimir Nabokov in a 1962 interview to BBC Television published in _Strong Opinions_ (1973).
:::

In 2018 I saw the [NPC meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/npc-wojak) emerge in online discussions about people who claimed to have no [inner speech](!W).
This quote came to mind.

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URL: <https://dbohdan.com/nabokov.md>

Published 2020-08-14, updated 2024-12-23.

Tags:

- literature
- person
- quotes