“It is the task of the translator to release in his own language that pure language that is under the spell of another, to liberate the language imprisoned in a work in his re-creation of that work.”
Walter Benjamin (German philosopher)
"Translators are the shadow heroes of literature, the often-forgotten instruments that make it possible for different cultures to talk to one another, who have enabled us to understand that we all, from every part of the world, live in one world.”
Paul Auster (American writer and director)
"Translation is like a woman. If it is beautiful, it is not faithful. If it is faithful, it is most certainly not beautiful."
Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Russian poet)
"To translate, one must have a style of his own, for the translation will have no rhythm or nuance, which come from the process of artistically thinking through and molding the sentences; they cannot be reconstituted by piecemeal imitation. The problem of translation is to retreat to a simpler tenor of one’s own style and creatively adjust this to one’s author."
Paul Goodman (American social critic and anarchist philosopher)
“Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes.”
Günter Grass (Nobel Prize German novelist and poet)
“Human writing reflects that of the universe; it is its translation, but also its metaphor: it says something totally different, and it says the same thing.”
Octavio Paz (Nobel Prize Mexican Poet and diplomat)
“Without translation, I would be limited to the borders of my own country. The translator is my most important ally. He introduces me to the world.”
Italo Calvino (Italian novelist, journalist and short-story writer)
"The original is unfaithful to the translation."
Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer)
“Each language has its own take on the world. That's why a translation can never be absolutely exact and, therefore, when you enter another language and speak with its speakers, you become a slightly different person; you learn a different sort of world.”
Kate Grenville (Australian author)
“A translation is no translation, he said, unless it will give you the music of a poem along with the words of it.”
John Millington Synge (Irish poet)
“A translation needs to read convincingly. There's no limit to what can go into it in terms of background research, feeling, or your own interests in form and history. But what should come out is something that reads as convincing English-language text.”
Jonathan Galassi (American publisher, poet and translator)
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
Mark Twain (American writer, humorist and lecturer)
“Translators have to prove to themselves as to others that they are in control of what they do; that they do not just translate well because they have a “flair” for translation, but rather because, like other professionals, they have made a conscious effort to understand various aspects of their work.”
Mona Baker (Egyptian Professor of translation studies)
“The first rule of translation: make sure you know at least one of the bloody languages!”
Faiz Ahmad Faiz (Pakistani poet and author)
“So many people consider their work a daily punishment. Whereas I love my work as a translator. Translation is a journey over a sea from one shore to the other. Sometimes I think of myself as a smuggler: I cross the frontier of language with my booty of words, ideas, images, and metaphors.”
Amara Lakhous (Algerian author, journalist and anthropologist)
“Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.”
Anthony Burgess (English writer and composer)
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Rodrigo Ortiz-Monasterio - the compiler - is a professional Spanish Translator and Spanish Copywriter with over 25 years of experience in the marketing, advertising, business and corporate communications fields.
