“I carried out my purpose: War and Peace, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, Anna Karenina, and so forth. Would you believe it? Something is gained in translation; the originals are even more depressing and soporific than translations. I’m not sure what purpose Russian fiction has, but it can’t be entertainment.”

— Robert A. Heinlein , book The Number of the Beast

Source: The Number of the Beast (1980), Chapter XIX : Something is gained in translation—, p. 166

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Robert A. Heinlein 557

American science fiction author 1907–1988

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version in original Dutch / citaat van Paul Gabriël, in Nederlands: Een vroege morgen kan er oppervlakkig grijs uitzien, maar ze is het niet.. ..de dauw is veel gekleurder dan men wel zou geloven, dikwijls zo sterk dat het palet te kort schiet.
Quote of Paul Gabriël, in a letter to a befriended art-critic; as cited in 'Dauw heeft meer kleur dan men denkt', by Truus Ruiter https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/dauw-heeft-meer-kleur-dan-men-denkt~b14d3e3c/; newspaper 'de Volkskrant', 27 July 1998
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“The translator translates a book for the ones who are not familiar with its language of origin. If someone can read it in the language of origin, he will not need to read its translation. So, when you translate, you first suppose that you translate it for someone who does not know its language and could not explore that world and that thought.”

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version in original Dutch / citaat van Matthijs Maris, in het Nederlands: mijn was een geboren schilder which means, hij had er plezier in.
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“It is what you believe that translates in the life you live.”

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“A verse translation should be faithful to the original, less in form than in sense. Or in other words, a poetic translation should be as beautiful as the original in sense, in sound and, if possible, in form.”

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Robert A. Heinlein 557

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