Quotes about translation

Lewis Carroll — "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."

Friedrich Nietzsche — "It is neither the best nor the worst things in a book that defy translation."

Yevgeny Yevtushenko — "Translation is like a woman: if she is faithful, she is not beautiful; if she is beautiful, she is not faithful."

Voltaire — "It is impossible to translate poetry. Can you translate music?".
Mona Baker — "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, like other professionals, they have made a conscious effort to understand various aspects of their work."

Milan Kundera — "Common European thought is the fruit of the immense toil of translators. Without translators, Europe would not exist; translators are more important than members of the European Parliament."

Anthony Burgess — "Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture."

Alastair Reid — "To be a successful translator you have to be either a saint or a fool. Ideally ... a saintly fool."

Lanna Castelano — "Old translators never die, they just meet their final deadline."