ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | I came to the party late...

Alexandra Goldburt — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:29:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Alexandra Goldburt
Post title: I came to the party late...

...but I can't resist!

"Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, as they'll never cease to be amused".

Author unknown (well, at least to me...)

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | My favourite

Yurena Sar (X) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:06:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Yurena Sar (X)
Post title: My favourite

In the kingdom of hope
there is no winter

Russian proverb

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Mark Twain

elen_d — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:11:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: elen_d
Post title: Mark Twain

[i]It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.[/i] --Mark Twain

At first I thought it was from French humorist Gustave Parking, but as I found out the English version, I felt very proud to see that one of my favorite humorist was somewhat learned :lol:

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | The last 3 words are the best

Edward Potter — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:06:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Edward Potter
Post title: The last 3 words are the best

How about:

... all men are created equal,... they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,... among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

and for good measure:

... we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | From that great philosopher, Jimmy Buffett:

JaneTranslates — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:54:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: JaneTranslates
Post title: From that great philosopher, Jimmy Buffett:

"If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Mine...

Francesca Grandinetti — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:24:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Francesca Grandinetti
Post title: Mine...

"A person who seems to have all the answers, usually isn't listening" J. Gitomer

And...

"Le persone che fanno ciò che hanno sempre fatto ottengono i risultati che hanno sempre ottenuto"

(almost like: "no pain, no gain" or, better: if you always behave in the same way, you will always get the same results).

Ciao!

Franzi :roll:

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Here's mine

kyanzes — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:22:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: kyanzes
Post title: Here's mine

[b]Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son![/b]

:o:

It's humorous as I have quoted it here, it contains wisdom, because Vader knows he needs an ally to achieve his goal, certainly inspirational since he offers Luke siginificant power, definitely about human relationships as it's about a future cooparation between father and son, involves money since it would make them rich, also shows very well the ethics of Vader since he's about to get around the emperor and finally it mostly belongs to the category "other". :lol:

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Apocryphal Beatitudes

Jack Doughty — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:20:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Jack Doughty
Post title: Apocryphal Beatitudes

Claudia Alvis quoted one of these by Borges.
Here's another (anon.)

Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed.

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | The ones I love (and frequently use) are a mixture

Angeliki Papadopoulou — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:16:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Angeliki Papadopoulou
Post title: The ones I love (and frequently use) are a mixture

[quote]Raffaella Cornacchini wrote:

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans
John Lennon

Raffaella

[/quote]

That one, and

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there"
(from Alice in Wonderland)

also

"Don't take a flower apart to see how it works"
(don't recall where this one is from!)

Lina

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | inspirational

jacana54 (X) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:52:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: jacana54 (X)
Post title: inspirational

Señor, haz de mi un instrumento de tu paz...

full text at [url removed]

I loved the Donne quote added by Elizabeth.

L

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Bill Vaughan,

Andy Watkinson — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:50:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Andy Watkinson
Post title: Bill Vaughan,

"It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing with the same set of facts.

Bill Vaughan, journalist (1915-1977)"

Andy

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Great poll, thanks John.

Nicholas Ferreira — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:22:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Nicholas Ferreira
Post title: Great poll, thanks John.

Here are a few of my favourites that encapsulate values I aspire to in life:

"The only thing evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke

"In necessariis unitas, in aliis libertas, super omnia caritas" (In important things unity, in less important things liberty, in all things charity)

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - Dumbledore in Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban

"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. -- So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." - Frodo and Gandalf

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future" - Galadriel to Frodo

"If I screw up raising my children, anything else I achieve will be nothing." -- Cheaper by the Dozen, Tom's words when deciding to resign his most desired career.

"Love those that hate you, but to love those one hates is impossible" -- Alexey Alexandrovitch in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | My dad always said...

Lisa Roberts — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:13:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Lisa Roberts
Post title: My dad always said...

Be clever and kind.

Which I think is lovely :)

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Human relationships

Elizabeth Rudin — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:17:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Elizabeth Rudin
Post title: Human relationships

One of my all-time favourites:

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
/John Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, XVII (1624)/

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | N/A

Marie-Hélène Hayles — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:47:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Marie-Hélène Hayles
Post title: N/A

I don't have any - but I'm enjoying all yours.

Edits: Actually I do have two, kind of, which are somewhat contradictory (it depends what mood I'm in):

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well

but:

Why do today what you can put off until next week?

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | great poll, thanks John

JackieMcC — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:36:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: JackieMcC
Post title: great poll, thanks John

The past is another country. They do things differently there.
L.P. Hartley

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | no bees no honey; no work, no money

Isabel Booth — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:21:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Isabel Booth
Post title: no bees no honey; no work, no money

:lol:

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | my favourite

Raffaella Cornacchini — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:24:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Raffaella Cornacchini
Post title: my favourite

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans
John Lennon

Raffaella

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | wisdom/humour

Andrea Riffo — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 04:58:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Andrea Riffo
Post title: wisdom/humour

Merely two of the many quotes I love:

"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."
- Frank Lloyd Wright

"If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance."
- George Bernard Shaw

My all-time favourite in Spanish:

"Monólogo significa: el mono que habla."
- Ramón Gómez de la Serna

[Edited at 2007-12-17 05:05]

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Inspirational-humorous

Amy Duncan (X) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:58:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Amy Duncan (X)
Post title: Inspirational-humorous

"To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is big with blessings." - Mary Baker Eddy

"I used to be Snow White, but I drifted." - Mae West

Amy

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | The Duke of Wellington

Jack Doughty — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:26:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Jack Doughty
Post title: The Duke of Wellington

On inspecting some reinforcements just arrived in Spain for the Peninsular War:
"I don't know what these men will do to the enemy, but by God, they frighten me!"

When someone came up to him and said: "Mr. Smith, I believe?"
"If you believe that, Sir, you will believe anything."

When asked by Queen Victoria how to remove sparrows from the Crystal Palace, opened for the 1851 Exhibition:
"Sparrowhawks, Ma'am."

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | wisdom mixed with humor

Lisa Nottmeyer (X) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 19:25:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Lisa Nottmeyer (X)
Post title: wisdom mixed with humor

it´s not the only one ... but for sure one of my favorites:

"It's a magical world, Hobbes... Let's go exploring!"

Calvin & Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Wisdom

Claudia Aguero — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:17:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Claudia Aguero
Post title: Wisdom

My favorite comes from Benjamin Franklin's "The Whistle." I read it many years ago at the university, and is constantly in my mind. It's short and concrete:

"Don't pay too much for the whistle."

As he himself ends this letter, "I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by their giving too much for their whistles."

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | My favorites

Andrea Brumma — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:03:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Andrea Brumma
Post title: My favorites

"Nothing happens unless there is first a dream." (Carl Sandburg)

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. (Father Alfred d' Souza)

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | This one helps me to get through life a lot

Irene N — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:42:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Irene N
Post title: This one helps me to get through life a lot

If the world were a logical place, men would ride side-saddle.

Rita Mae Brown

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | Jorge Luis Borges

Claudia Alvis — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:09:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Claudia Alvis
Post title: Jorge Luis Borges

My favorite quote is by the great Jorge Luis Borges:

"Bienaventurados los misericordiosos, porque su dicha está en el ejercicio de la misericordia y no en la esperanza de un premio".

It's something like:

"[b]Blessed are the merciful; for their joy lies in the practice of mercy, and not in the hope of a reward[/b]."

From the "Evangelios apócrifos" (The Apocryphal Gospels).

Edit:
[quote]Here's a nice one for translators: "Grasp the subject, the words will follow." Cato the Elder (234 BC - 149 BC)[/quote]

Absolutely true. Thanks Letty for sharing that one!

[Edited at 2007-12-16 15:11]

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | My contribution

Lesley Clarke — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:04:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Lesley Clarke
Post title: My contribution

A quote for overworked translators:

"She speaks eighteen languages and can't say no in any of them"

Dorothy Parker

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | My two favs

French Foodie — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:24:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: French Foodie
Post title: My two favs

The first is humorous, but oh so true. And the second I find terribly comforting when I look at the chaos that is my desk...

“There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne.”
- Bette Davis, Old Acquaintances

"It takes chaos to give birth to a dancing star."
Fredrich Nietzache.

Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying | If you always do what you've always done you'll always get what you've always gotten

Elizabeth Ardans — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:17:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My favorite quote / famous saying
Poster: Elizabeth Ardans
Post title: If you always do what you've always done you'll always get what you've always gotten

I've always liked this one...
If you like it, there is an interesting story about it here: [url removed]

Cheers!