Good Translators Quotes & Sayings

A satisfactory translation is not always possible, but a good translator is never satisfied with it. It can usually be improved. (Newmark) — Peter Newmark

The most basic barrier was language itself, very few Americans in Iraq whether soldiers or diplomats or news paper reporters could speak more than a few words of Arabic. A remarkable number of them didn't even have translators. That meant for many Iraqis the typical 19 year old army corporal from South Dakota was not a youthful innocent carrying Americas good will, he was a terrifying combination of firepower and ignorance. — Dexter Filkins

I like silent pictures and I always have ... I wanted to restore some of this beauty. I thought of it, I remember in this way: one of techniques of modern art is simplification, and that I must therefore simplify this film. — Akira Kurosawa

We will surely get to our destination if we join hands. — Aung San Suu Kyi

Destiny is just the inevitable result of choice, from the choices that came before us to the choices we make. They are a river that can only flow in one direction. — Alex London

I don't like being the focus of attention. It makes me very uncomfortable. And it's part of the reason I never look at videos of myself, or I very rarely listen to my music or even read things that I might've said. — Cecile McLorin Salvant

All men are loyal, but their objects of allegiance are at best approximate. — John Barth

He [Mencken] was an autodidact, with all the misplaced confidence and all the astonishing gaps that characterize that breed. Not many of us would venture to write a book about democracy without ever having read de Tocqueville, nor embark on a translation of Nietzsche with only a sketchy knowledge of German. — John Derbyshire

I am a Marxist Leninist and I will be one until the last day of my life. — Fidel Castro

Translators are like ninjas. If you notice them, they're no good. — Etgar Keret

Electric Networks spread fear of murder on the streets — Allen Ginsberg

Intrinsic to the concept of a translator's fidelity to the effect and impact of the original is making the second version of the work as close to the first writer's intention as possible. A good translator's devotion to that goal is unwavering. But what never should be forgotten or overlooked is the obvious fact that what we read in a translation is the translator's writing. The inspiration is the original work, certainly, and thoughtful literary translators approach that work with great deference and respect, but the execution of the book in another language is the task of the translator, and that work should be judged and evaluated on its own terms. Still, most reviewers do not acknowledge the fact of translation except in the most perfunctory way, and a significant majority seem incapable of shedding light on the value of the translation or on how it reflects or illuminates the original. — Edith Grossman

As the Italian proverb says, 'Translators are traitors.' At some level we all are traitors to the text, saying a little less than the Greek says (thus leaving some meaning behind) or a little more (when trying to clarify). Under- and over-translation.

A good reason to learn Greek and Hebrew, and an even better reason to read more than one translation. — William D. Mounce

Every problem is a new puzzle to solve — Lailah Gifty Akita

The first time I called myself a 'Witch' was the most magical moment of my life. — Margot Adler

I am provoked at the contempt which most historians show for humanity in general; one would think by them, that the whole human species consisted but of about a hundred and fifty people, called and dignified (commonly very undeservedly too) by the titles of Emperors, Kings, Popes, Generals, and Ministers. — Lord Chesterfield

Usually the German translators do something terrible, especially with Tom Wolfe, which is that they make it local. So if the characters are from Harlem, the translators put all this Berlin slang into their mouths, and that's just terrible. You cringe when you read that. But there really is no good solution to the problem, except learning English. — Daniel Kehlmann