--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think the close work I do as a…" description: "\"I think the close work I do as a translator pays off in my writing - I'm always searching for multiple ways to say things.\" — Lydia Davis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/lydia-davis-3244_multiple_i-think-the-close-work-i-do-as-a-transla_2572782.png" --- # I think the close work I do as a translator pays off in my… ![“I think the close work I do as a translator pays off in my writing - I'm always searching for multiple ways to say things.” quote by Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/lydia-davis-3244_multiple_i-think-the-close-work-i-do-as-a-transla_2572782.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/lydia-davis-3244_multiple_i-think-the-close-work-i-do-as-a-transla_2572782.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/lydia-davis-3244_multiple_i-think-the-close-work-i-do-as-a-transla_2572782.png) > “I think the close work I do as a translator pays off in my writing - I'm always searching for multiple ways to say things.” [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Translating enriches writing by exploring multiple expressions. **In simple terms:** Translation improves writing. Key Takeaway Seek varied phrasing in work. Themes writing translation creativity language Mood thoughtful creative Type literary educational When to use this quote - novels - poetry - editing Key Concepts linguistics literary craft Questions to Reflect On - How does translation shape your voice? - What benefits arise from linguistic flexibility? A Different Perspective Multiple meanings can cause ambiguity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Multiple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multiple/) [Multiple Ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multiple-ways-1707014/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Translator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translator/) [Translator Pays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translator-pays-1707012/) [Translators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translators/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Work Translator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-translator-1707011/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Searching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-searching-1707013/) ## Related quotes > [The producer, in effect, has to work as a translator. You form a very tight relationship with the director and writer from the beginning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kennedy/the-producer-in-effect-has-to-work-as-a-translator-you-form-a-very/) [Kathleen Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kennedy/) > [“So many people consider their work a daily punishment. Whereas I love my work as a translator. Translation is a journey over a sea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amara-lakhous/so-many-people-consider-their-work-a-daily-punishment-whereas-i-love/) [Amara Lakhous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amara-lakhous/) > [The translator ... Peculiar outcast, ghost in the world of literature, recreating in another form something already created, creating and not creating, writing words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/the-translator-peculiar-outcast-ghost-in-the-world-of-literature/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [the translator, a lonely sort of acrobat, becomes confused in a labyrinth of paradox, or climbs a pyramid of dependent clauses and has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/the-translator-a-lonely-sort-of-acrobat-becomes-confused-in-a/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I think every translator would tell you that when they look back at a poem they have translated, they want to pencil in changes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-lee-kercheval/i-think-every-translator-would-tell-you-that-when-they-look-back-at-a/) [Jesse Lee Kercheval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-lee-kercheval/) > [Thomas Teal, a luminous translator of Jansson's twin talent for surface and depth, simplicity and reverberation in language, and someone who knows exactly how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/thomas-teal-a-luminous-translator-of-jansson-s-twin-talent-for/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [It's important to get a translator who will ask the questions in a sensitive and thoughtful way. Knowing the ethnicity issues, the tribal issues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-menzel/it-s-important-to-get-a-translator-who-will-ask-the-questions-in-a/) [Peter Menzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-menzel/) > [It seems more than likely that the translating of poetry is going to rub off on the translator if he or she is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-padgett/it-seems-more-than-likely-that-the-translating-of-poetry-is-going-to/) [Ron Padgett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-padgett/) > [Even a poor translator couldn't kill a style that moves with such narrative clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/even-a-poor-translator-couldn-t-kill-a-style-that-moves-with-such/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [A poet is the translator of the silent language of nature to the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rufus-wilmot-griswold/a-poet-is-the-translator-of-the-silent-language-of-nature-to-the-world/) [Rufus Wilmot Griswold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rufus-wilmot-griswold/) > [I think that being an editor, someone who works with words, is very good training for being a translator because it trains you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-goldstein/i-think-that-being-an-editor-someone-who-works-with-words-is-very/) [Ann Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-goldstein/) > [Please, never despise the translator. He's the mailman of human civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/please-never-despise-the-translator-he-s-the-mailman-of-human/) [Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/) > [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/) > [A translator is essentially a reader and we all read differently, except that a translator's reading remains in unchanging print](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/a-translator-is-essentially-a-reader-and-we-all-read-differently/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [I think that if you are sticking to the text, essentially, you're not trying to write your own version of it. I mean, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-goldstein/i-think-that-if-you-are-sticking-to-the-text-essentially-you-re-not/) [Ann Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-goldstein/) ## More by Lydia Davis > [Heart weeps. Head tries to help heart. Head tells heart how it is, again: You will lose the ones you love. They will all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/heart-weeps-head-tries-to-help-heart-head-tells-heart-how-it-is-again/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“But on that particular day I did not even begin to feel interested in this chore, and was suddenly more deeply bored than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/but-on-that-particular-day-i-did-not-even-begin-to-feel-interested-in/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [If a translation doesn't have obvious writing problems, it may seem quite all right at first glance. We readers, after all, quickly adapt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/if-a-translation-doesn-t-have-obvious-writing-problems-it-may-seem/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I always interrupt work with other work, either in a small way or big way, so that's normal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-always-interrupt-work-with-other-work-either-in-a-small-way-or-big/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [ I worked more intensively hour after hour when I was starting out \[writing\]. More laboriously. I'd say quantity is important as well as quality,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-worked-more-intensively-hour-after-hour-when-i-was-starting-out/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“because she couldn’t write the name of what she was: a wa wam owm owamn womn”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/because-she-couldn-t-write-the-name-of-what-she-was-a-wa-wam-owm/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Everything was sharper, clearer, and closer, as though, before, I had been seeing only little bits at a time, not all of it, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/everything-was-sharper-clearer-and-closer-as-though-before-i-had-been/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“He did not know exactly when to thank his hostess after attending a dinner or a weekend party. In his uncertainty, he would thank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/he-did-not-know-exactly-when-to-thank-his-hostess-after-attending-a/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“There was no confusion of our bodies. I knew which arm was his and which mine, and which leg, and which shoulder. 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