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non essere fine a se stessa

English translation: not be an end unto itself

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Italian term or phrase:	non essere fine a se stessa
English translation:	not be an end unto itself
Entered by:	James (Jim) Davis

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13:22 Sep 26, 2009

Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism

Italian term or phrase: non essere fine a se stessa

I am translating an article about Italian idiosincracy, and the first part includes this phrase, which is giving me quite a hard time... It should sound as "artistic" as possible ;)

Any suggestions shall be highly appreciated.

Evelyn Montes KudoZ activity Questions: 20 (none open) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 100 Italy
Local time: 05:31

not be an end unto itself

Explanation:
Without more context.
However it is a common phrase:
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q="end u...

Selected response from:

James (Jim) Davis
Italy
Local time: 05:31

Grading comment

Thanks a lot!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

not an end in itself

Oliver Lawrence

4 +1

existing for the mere sake of existence

Vincent Lemma

4 +1

not be an end unto itself

James (Jim) Davis

not be to no avail

Ilaria Feltre

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

not an end in itself

Explanation:
or 'not to be an end in itself', or something similar, as without any immediate context it's impossible to know exactly how to fit in the verb infinitive.

Oliver Lawrence
Italy
Local time: 05:31
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 44

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

not be an end unto itself

Explanation:
Without more context.
However it is a common phrase:
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q="end u...

James (Jim) Davis
Italy
Local time: 05:31
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 52

Grading comment

Thanks a lot!

43 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

existing for the mere sake of existence

Explanation:
This is a different spin on it.
Suits the topic quite well, I do say so myself

Vincent Lemma
Italy
Local time: 05:31
Native speaker of:

English,

Italian

1 hr confidence:

not be to no avail

Explanation:
Just a suggestion...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2009-09-26 15:13:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Ho inteso "non essere fine a se stessa" come "non essere inutile"...

Ilaria Feltre
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Italian

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Changes made by editors

Sep 28, 2009 - Changes made by James (Jim) Davis:
Created KOG entry	KudoZ term => KOG term

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non essere fine a se stessa

English translation: not be an end unto itself

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non essere fine a se stessa

English translation: not be an end unto itself

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KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.