'Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.' (Hermann Hesse)
I'm not saying anything then. Back to translation or - more precisely - to what's lost in it.
Guess why I'm sticking to this cool instrumental tonight.
Guess why I'm sticking to this cool instrumental tonight.
Lost in translation....so true...
ReplyDeleteIt happens so often, when words don´t correspond to what we mean.
And when that happens and we hurt somebody we love, bitterness stays inside our mouth for a long time...at least with me
You may be right, but my interpretation of this quote is not necessarily related to hurting others or staying bitter inside - it's partly about the fact that we learn (or rather negotiate) the meaning of words through social interaction, so it's influenced by our unique personal experience. Because of that, our words may mean something slightly (or not just 'slightly') different to others than to us (they get distorted).
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, there are certain things we simply cannot express (it doesn't mean we can just stop trying). Also, expressing our thoughts may take some of their uniqueness away(if we can express them, they're not unique anymore, there's a name for them, they are 'shared' with others) - so they become 'foolish'.