Favourite quotes about translation

Why quotes about translation? The art of translation has long fascinated me, as has its history and theory. I hope to post more of my thoughts at some stage, but meanwhile, here is a selection of thought-provoking quotes about translation.

Without translation, I would be limited to the borders of my own country. The translator is my most important ally.”
Italo Calvino

“Translation is always a shift, not between two languages but between two cultures. A translator must take into account rules that are not strictly linguistic but, broadly speaking, cultural.”
Umberto Eco

“Translation is an act of recreation.”
Ken Liu

“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

“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

“Translation makes me look at how a poem is put together in a different way, without the personal investment of the poem I’m writing myself, but equally closely technically.”
Marilyn Hacker

“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

“I think translations should convey the feelings expressed in the original work. This is what I have believed in and practised.”
Gulzar

“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

“Even though I believe a superlative translation can achieve timelessness, that doesn’t mean I think other translators shouldn’t attempt other versions. The more the better, in the end.”
Lydia Davis

“Humor is the first victim of translation.”
Mark Kurlansky