…translating from one language into another… is like gazing at a Flemish tapestry with the wrong side out: even though the figures are visible, they are full of threads that obscure the view and are not bright and smooth as when seen from the other side.

Miguel de Cervantes in The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha

A good translation does not just convey the same meaning, but it gets the music of the words right.

Orhan Pamuk

Beautiful translations are like beautiful women, that is to say, they are not always the most faithful ones.

George Steiner in After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation