You write that Nabokov had strong opinions about how "Lolita" covers should look, including a "no girls" dictum that he later revoked.
The Dictum of Kenilworth was later incorporated into the Statute of Marlborough.
However, since the Slaughterhouse Cases did not deal with claims of birthright citizenship, this comment was dismissed by later courts as a passing remark (obiter dictum) lacking any force as a controlling precedent.
But taking on board my newest dictum – that all experiences divide into a) Super Amazing Great Times or b) Awful Bad Times That Will Later Make Great Anecdotes – I'm still very happy that I had my two years of teenage rumpeteering.
The implosion of the Soviet Empire about half a century later, on the heels of Gorbachev's failure to balance systemic reform with regime preservation, seemingly reinforced Churchill's famous dictum, paving the way for Francis Fukuyama to triumphantly declare "the end of history".
His dictum was: "Everybody is talented".
That old dictum, write what you know?
Pogo's dictum applies here, too.
Fortunately, that dictum will be ignored.
