Doe Quote by Robert Fitzgerald

“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

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

— Samuel Johnson

I never used a translator, never thought that the journalists might not understand.

— Park Yeon-mi

“All I require of a translator is that he or she be a more gifted writer than I am, and in at least two…

— Kurt Vonnegut

“The translator, no matter how true he thinks he's staying to the text, still brings his own life experiences and opinions to the decisions…

— Stephanie Perkins

'Translations Through Speakers' was literally, I'm translating very spottily what my aspirations are.

— Jon Bellion

I tend to be kind of literal about translation. I think it's important to present the writer as closely as possible.

— Ann Goldstein

“It is natural for a translator to be prejudiced in favour of his adopted work. More impartial readers may not be so much struck…

— Horace Walpole

My metaphor for translation has always been that translation is really a performance art. You take the original and try to perform it, really,…

— Ken Liu

The translator's task is to create, in his or her own language, the same tensions appearing in the original. That's hard!

— Manuel Puig

Even a poor translator couldn't kill a style that moves with such narrative clarity.

— William Zinsser

“Intrinsic to the concept of a translator's fidelity to the effect and impact of the original is making the second version of the work…

— Edith Grossman