Rabassa Gregory Quotes & Sayings

... for overstrong was the command to hold fast to each smallest particle of time, to the smallest particle of every circumstance, and to embody all of them in memory as if they could be preserved in memory through all deaths for all times. — Hermann Broch

A translation can never equal the original; it can approach it, and its quality can only be judged as to accuracy by how close it gets. — Gregory Rabassa

In a world pulsating with so much information, the only information that you need is the stuff that will lead you straight to your own soul. Think of this: Most of the information that is fed to you, is motivated by the desire to earn money. Forget what the magazines say, what the forums say, what all the experts say. Your soul does not need to be spoon-fed with stuff it doesn't need. Your soul needs to be seen and found, and what leads you to that, is the only information that you need. — C. JoyBell C.

Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians. — Che Guevara

Teaching translation is more of an editing job. You act as editor. But you can have fun with it. — Gregory Rabassa

A translator is essentially a reader and we all read differently, except that a translator's reading remains in unchanging print — Gregory Rabassa

Translation is a disturbing craft because there is precious little certainty about what we are doing, which makes it so difficult in this age of fervent belief and ideology, this age or greed and screed. — Gregory Rabassa

Every act of communication is an act of translation. — Gregory Rabassa

All we ask is that we have peace with the whites. We want to hold you by the hand. You are our father. — Black Kettle

When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly. — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

It's all so sexy and cute and romantic...until the music changes to "In Da Club" by 50 Cent. — C.M. Stunich

One of my favorite tricks was taking a page and having the first student translate it from English into whatever language he or she was working on, and the next one would translate it back into English and then into the foreign language, and we'd go around the room and compare the two English versions at the end, and it would be amazing how much survived. — Gregory Rabassa

It is a weird feeling to have people go, 'Hey Chris' like they know me. But, number one, 99 percent of my experiences have been really cool. People couldn't be nicer and more positive. — Christopher Meloni

Painting done under pressure by artists without the necessary talent can only give rise to formlessness, as painting is a profession that requires peace of mind. — Titian

[Prayer] takes no time, but it occupies all our time. — Aiden Wilson Tozer

All nature's diff'rence keeps all nature's peace. — Alexander Pope

Certainly all historical experience confirms the truth - that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible. — Max Weber

The truth is that we live in a world that diminishes possibilities. — Lionel Suggs

I spent my next hour reshelving, and the next thirty minutes straightening out the Mc's and Mac's. Nobody on God's earth understands the Mc/Mac principle anymore. In order to do that, you have to be willing to think about something other than your genitals for a full minute. — Jincy Willett

The translator, we should know, is a writer too. As a matter of fact, he could be called the ideal writer because all he has to do is write; plot, theme, characters, and all other essentials have already been provided, so he can just sit down and write his ass off. (p. 8) — Gregory Rabassa

I used to have nightmares when I was a little kid that I woke up prematurely and opened all the Christmas presents. And then I would be so relieved when I woke up and I realized that I hadn't done it. — Claire Danes

When you hear Portuguese, if you're listening fleetingly, it's as if you're hearing Russian, which never happens with Spanish. Because the Portuguese and the Russians share the open vowels and the dark "L," the "owL" sound. — Gregory Rabassa

I have always maintained that translation is essentially the closest reading one can possibly give a text. The translator cannot ignore "lesser" words, but must consider every jot and tittle. — Gregory Rabassa

So the poor translator must not just go back and forth between two languages, but if he is worthy of his calling must shift between two selves, with all the perils of this induced schizophrenia. — Gregory Rabassa