Lydia Davis Quotes

Most of us do not, in fact, read another language, and so when we read a translation, we have no way of knowing what has been changed or added.

Yes, translation is by definition an inadequate substitute for being able to read a masterpiece in the original.

The translator's task is to create, in his or her own language, the same tensions appearing in the original. That's hard!

And I always read the English translation and always have conversations with my translator, for example about the names. I always have to approve it.

'The Lair of the White Worm' is quite a strange film. It's difficult to be good when you're saying lines that have been translated from Spanish to English by someone who speaks French.

I read pretty well in French and Spanish. I don't want to read a book written in French or Spanish in translation.

I translated an Emile Zola book, 'The Belly of Paris,' because I didn't find an existing translation that captured his sense of humor. Humor is the first victim of translation.

The best translations are always the ones in the language the author can't read.

My use of language is part and parcel of my message.

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.

I guess the toughest things in translations are word play, which can never be reproduced exactly.

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.

One of the reasons why there are so many versions of Chekhov is that translations date in a way that the original doesn't; translations seem to be of their time.

The original is unfaithful to the translation.

The question is how to bring a work of imagination out of one language that was just as taken-for-granted by the persons who used it as our language is by ourselves. Nothing strange about it.

A Swedish physicist can not discuss his work with fifty people unless he goes abroad. A Swedish economist can get opinions and instructions in his native language from thousands upon thousands of his fellow citizens.

Many of the books I read, I had to read them in French, English, or Italian, because they hadn't been translated into Spanish.

Even when well translated. can we really understand what other cultures are talking about?

The writing I do makes great demands on translators.

In Korean, my lyrics are witty and have twists. But translated into English, it doesn't come over. I've tried writing in English, just for me, but it doesn't work. I've got to know everything about a culture, and I don't.

I wasn't happy with Tagore's own translations in English. Maybe he was, but I wasn't, so I took it upon myself to do it.

There's inherent cultural imbalance whenever you're translating from Chinese to English. Educated Chinese readers are expected not only to know about all the Chinese references - history, language, culture, all this stuff - but to be well-versed in Western references as well.

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

A lot of linguists in the market, especially interpreters of foreign languages, do not have a great command over the English language, especially if they are translating into English.

'Being Cyrus' is very young in language or grammar. I am not saying that these things can't be achieved in Hindi. All I am saying is that it would not be the same.