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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.

Often, the idea that there can be a wide range of translations of one text doesn't occur to people - or that a translation could be bad, very bad, and unfaithful to the original.

Now multitudes of root words are identical in the American languages over vast areas some of them with precisely the same senses, and others with various shades of analogical meaning.

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

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

Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.

Originality is not seen in single words or even in sentences. Originality is the sum total of a man's thinking or his writing.

As far as modern writing is concerned, it is rarely rewarding to translate it, although it might be easy. Translation is very much like copying paintings.

The most advanced minds as well as the least advanced are obliged to use the same words. If we adopt new words, it will be even more difficult - if not impossible - to make ourselves understood. The new man must therefore express himself in conventional language.