Mikhail Bulgakov Quotes

Everyone, he went on, speaks a language he does not understand, but which now and then is understood by others. That is enough to permit one to exist and at least to be misunderstood.

For the benefit of those who are not bilingual, I will now continue in English.

There's no more usual basis of union than mutual misunderstanding.

It is a ridiculous demand which England and America make, that you shall speak so that they can understand you. Neither men nor toadstools grow so.

Translation is the art of failure.

After all, when you come right down to it, how many people speak the same language even when they speak the same language?

In America, we have to learn to be patient enough to figure out what somebody is saying. Somebody might actually be saying something.

I'm not a xenophobe - I think immigration is a good thing for most countries - but they transmute the foibles of their native tongues into English in a way that's difficult to figure out.

For my next trick I will make everyone understand me.

I want my words to survive translation.

Each day we understand better what the Indians say, and they us, so that very often we are intelligible to each other.

One of the nice things about the United States is that, wherever you go, people speak the same language. So native New Yorkers can move to San Francisco, Houston, or Milwaukee and still understand and be understood by everyone they meet. Right? Well, not exactly. Or, as a native New Yorker might put it, 'Wrong!'

I wouldn't say there are alliances at the pageant, but I understand if you can't speak the language, you would want to hang out with someone who understands you.

Directing while overcoming differences of language and culture is a stimulating challenge.

An ancient father says that a dog we know is better company than a man whose language we do not understand.

Those of you who speak only English, applaud [audience applause]. Those of you who speak only Spanish, applaud [audience applause]. [In mock incredulity] Then how do you know what I just said?

Our words are, as a general rule, filled by the people to whom we address them with a meaning which those people derive from their own substance, a meaning widely different from that which we had put into the same words when we uttered them.

It's easier to love a woman when you can't understand a word she's saying.

If you can't get yourself understood, you may have trouble, so you need some interpretation every now and again wherever you might be.

We are all saying the same thing in different words.

I cannot assume you will understand me. It is just as likely that as I invent what I want to say, you will invent what you want to hear. Some story we must have. Stray words on crumpled paper. A weak signal into the outer space of each other. The probability of seperate worlds meeting is very small. The lure is immense. We send starships. We fall in love

Your words and my words are the same, but not our meaning.

One of the hardest things in the world is to convey a meaning accurately from one mind to another.

Grandma frowned and yelled something in Russian. She could have been saying, 'Open up, your best friend is here.' On the other hand, it could have been, 'America is a great country because of canned ravioli.

What I mean and what I say is two different things," the BFG announced rather grandly.