Writing Quote by Kurt Vonnegut

“Not everyone who knows how to write can be a writer. Not everyone who knows two languages can be a translator.”

— Nataly Kelly

“The translator's task is essentially a difficult and often a thankless one. He is severely criticized if he makes a mistake, but only faintly…

— Eugene A. Nida

“I show that I have understood a writer only when I can act in his spirit, when, without constricting his individuality, I can translate…

— Novalis

“And if I am asked today to advise a young writer who has not yet made up his mind what way to go, I…

— Stefan Zweig

“No one else can translate the language that is you.”

— Rave Jaida Jones

“Remember that writing is translation, and the opus to be translated is yourself.”

— E.B. White

“I can’t translate myself into language any more.”

— Alice Notley

“The translator, we should know, is a writer too. As a matter of fact, he could be called the ideal writer because all he…

— Gregory Rabassa

“I believe that to be an efficient writer, one must be able to write in more than one language. I know over seven languages.…

— Mitta Xinindlu

The writing I do makes great demands on translators.

— W. G. Sebald

“As long as human beings speak different languages, the need for translation will continue.”

— Nataly Kelly

A translator is to be like his author; it is not his business to excel him.

— Samuel Johnson