Translator Lounge

Quotations have become a popular method to individualize email signatures and the exemplars for slogans of businesses, both online and in print. Quotations reveal a tidbit of history or someone’s viewpoint or thoughts on a subject in brief, yet compelling, words. They can be motivating, funny, insightful or contemptuous. They all have in common the ability to make the reader ponder, nod their head in agreement or opposition and, perhaps, consider the words throughout their day.

There is a vast array of quotation categories, including motivational and inspiration, art, dreams, love, various sports, literary, special occasions and themes.

There are even quotes relative to translations and dictionaries. Some of these notable quotes are as follows:

• “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, American Poet

• “Now that he has changed the weather, Lion and lamb can vote together. God bless the Russian delegation, I waive consecutive translation.” Lord Caradon, British Chief UN Delegate

• “I hope to finish the book before I’m 90. It keeps you alive. The secret of being a translator is not to be in a hurry. Sometimes it takes hours to find a single word.” Dr. Leonard D. Rosenman, MD and Translator

• “Nor ought a genius less than his that writ attempt translation.” Sir John Denham, English Soldier and Poet

• “The original is unfaithful to the translation.” Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian Poet and Essayist.

• “Take care you never spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word, consider how it is spelled and, if you do not remember, turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to write well.” Thomas Jefferson, 3rd American President, to his daughter, Martha.

• “The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.” Jean Cocteau, French Poet and Novelist

• “Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.” Kahlil Gibran, Philosophical Essayist, Novelist and Poet

• “Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Short Story Writer and Novelist

• “At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English Poet

However your day is proceeding, whether smoothly or bumpy, an appropriate quotation is available online to cheer you on or brighten you up. Hope my short selection gave you smile.

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Karin Wolte is an English to French translators and currently works on improving the French Dictionary section at Babylon.