--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've never had the impulse for someone…" description: "\"I've never had the impulse for someone else to translate me into my own language. My impulse has always been to translate someone else into mine.\" — Id..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/idra-novey-35113_impulse_i-ve-never-had-the-impulse-for-someone-e_2152576.jpg" --- # I've never had the impulse for someone else to translate… ![“I've never had the impulse for someone else to translate me into my own language. My impulse has always been to translate someone else into mine.” quote by Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/idra-novey-35113_impulse_i-ve-never-had-the-impulse-for-someone-e_2152576.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/idra-novey-35113_impulse_i-ve-never-had-the-impulse-for-someone-e_2152576.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/idra-novey-35113_impulse_i-ve-never-had-the-impulse-for-someone-e_2152576.jpg) > “I've never had the impulse for someone else to translate me into my own language. My impulse has always been to translate someone else into mine.” [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author prefers to reinterpret others through their own perspective rather than be reinterpreted. **In simple terms:** Translate others, not yourself. Key Takeaway Embrace active interpretation. Themes creativity interpretation identity Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - cross‑cultural projects - personal growth Key Concepts translation theory self‑definition Questions to Reflect On - What does translating others reveal about you? - When does reinterpretation become appropriation? A Different Perspective Risk of imposing self bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ## Related quotes > [“I can’t translate myself into language any more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-notley/i-can-t-translate-myself-into-language-any-more/) [Alice Notley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-notley/) > [Hebrew is this unique thing that you cannot translate to any other language. It has to do with its history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/hebrew-is-this-unique-thing-that-you-cannot-translate-to-any-other/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) > [“No one else can translate the language that is you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rave-jaida-jones/no-one-else-can-translate-the-language-that-is-you/) Rave Jaida Jones > [The creative process lies not in imitating, but in paralleling nature - translating the impulse received from nature into the medium of expression, thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-hofmann/the-creative-process-lies-not-in-imitating-but-in-paralleling-nature/) [Hans Hofmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-hofmann/) > [You may translate books of science exactly. ... The beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-may-translate-books-of-science-exactly-the-beauties-of-poetry/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The peace we seek, founded upon decent trust and cooperation among nations, can be fortified not by weapons of war but by wheat and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-peace-we-seek-founded-upon-decent-trust-and-cooperation-among/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [I don't think it's by accident that I was first attracted to translating two French women poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/i-don-t-think-it-s-by-accident-that-i-was-first-attracted-to/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [I believe the role of the Christian today is to show the world the love of Jesus. I know that may sound overly simplistic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricardo-sanchez/i-believe-the-role-of-the-christian-today-is-to-show-the-world-the/) [Ricardo Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricardo-sanchez/) > [The impresario function is about intervening with the company's more administrative management structure. It is about trying to establish a sense of boundaries and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kao/the-impresario-function-is-about-intervening-with-the-company-s-more/) [John Kao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kao/) > [Translating is a respectable, valuable, creative and worthwhile use of a human brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bellos/translating-is-a-respectable-valuable-creative-and-worthwhile-use-of/) David Bellos > [I don't think know if anything's going to translate anywhere. You're making a movie, you hope it's going to be funny, you can't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stiller/i-don-t-think-know-if-anything-s-going-to-translate-anywhere-you-re/) [Ben Stiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stiller/) > [I am somewhat influenced by the years that I've spent trying to actually get things done, whether it was reforming education in Arkansas or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-am-somewhat-influenced-by-the-years-that-i-ve-spent-trying-to/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/translation-is-entirely-mysterious-increasingly-i-have-felt-that-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Governments follow their people. A great deal has to do with the vision of the leadership of governments. They have a vision, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-khurshid/governments-follow-their-people-a-great-deal-has-to-do-with-the/) [Salman Khurshid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-khurshid/) > [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## More by Idra Novey > [Humor is serious work. But it keeps everybody at the table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/humor-is-serious-work-but-it-keeps-everybody-at-the-table/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [What is the task of the translator? I think the task depends on the book and on the translator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/what-is-the-task-of-the-translator-i-think-the-task-depends-on-the/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [I've never translated more than one book by any author. But I'm fascinated by translators who have, like Richard Zenith, who's translated so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/i-ve-never-translated-more-than-one-book-by-any-author-but-i-m/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [“The world made no exception for lovers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/the-world-made-no-exception-for-lovers/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [It would be great if I woke up tomorrow and could speak Persian. Wouldn't you love to wake and have a language in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/it-would-be-great-if-i-woke-up-tomorrow-and-could-speak-persian/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [I have a deep love for the art of translation, and I couldn't find a novel that captured the fascinating, reckless adventure of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/i-have-a-deep-love-for-the-art-of-translation-and-i-couldn-t-find-a/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [I think we think that American books are funny or they're serious literature. But humor is subversive. When you add an element of absurdism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/i-think-we-think-that-american-books-are-funny-or-they-re-serious/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [“In a crumbling park in the crumbling back end of Copacabana, a woman stopped under an almond tree with a suitcase and a cigar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/in-a-crumbling-park-in-the-crumbling-back-end-of-copacabana-a-woman/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [A single conversation can change things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/a-single-conversation-can-change-things/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [It's the best motivation to have a particular beloved reader in mind! Because you feel this urgency that you really want somebody you care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/it-s-the-best-motivation-to-have-a-particular-beloved-reader-in-mind/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) [Explore all 11 Idra Novey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) ## More Impulse quotes > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [“Anything you fear is a shackle to ur soul. It is a phobia that tethers and blinds ur ability to see and comprehend your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/anything-you-fear-is-a-shackle-to-ur-soul-it-is-a-phobia-that-tethers/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [The odor of bowel wind is known to every human, but the fragrance of book glue has crossed only a fraction of mortal nostrils.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-odor-of-bowel-wind-is-known-to-every-human-but-the-fragrance-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Dialogue and education for peace can help free our hearts from the impulse toward intolerance and the rejection of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/dialogue-and-education-for-peace-can-help-free-our-hearts-from-the/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Where one person shapes their life by precept and example, there are a thousand who have shaped it by impulse and circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/where-one-person-shapes-their-life-by-precept-and-example-there-are-a/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [ No one suffers so much as he \[the genius\] with the people, and, therefore, for the people, with whom he lives. For, in a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/no-one-suffers-so-much-as-he-the-genius-with-the-people-and-therefore/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [If we are to define science, ... it does not consist so much in knowing, nor even in "organized knowledge," as it does in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/if-we-are-to-define-science-it-does-not-consist-so-much-in-knowing/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [The young man shivered. He rolled the stock themes of fantasy over in his mind: cars and stockbrokers and commuters, housewives and police, agony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-young-man-shivered-he-rolled-the-stock-themes-of-fantasy-over-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Order is a prerequisite of survival; therefore the impulse to produce orderly arrangements is inbred by evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/order-is-a-prerequisite-of-survival-therefore-the-impulse-to-produce/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [When we think carefully, we see that the brief elation we experience when appeasing sensual impulses may not be very different from what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/when-we-think-carefully-we-see-that-the-brief-elation-we-experience/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for possession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/adolescence-is-when-the-very-worst-and-best-impulses-in-the-human/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) Browse all 1,476 Impulse quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've never had the impulse for someone else to translate me into my own language. 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