Translation

I do not hesitate to read all good books in translations. What is really best in any book is translatable -- any real insight or broad human sentiment.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer.

To translate, one must have a style of his own, for otherwise 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 (1911-1972) American author, poet and critic.

Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word weaken the meaning! It is indeed by so doing that we can say the letter kills and the spirit gives life.

Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer and historian.

Humor is the first gift to perish in a foreign language.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) British novelist and essayist.