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Kindi

Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Die Liebe ist eine gewaltige Kraft; sie ist die einzige unüberwindliche Kraft

English translation:

Love is a tremendous force; it is the only unsurmountable power.

Added to glossary by Martina Kilgo
Mar 7, 2015 20:17
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term

Die Liebe ist eine gewaltige Kraft; sie ist die einzige unüberwindliche Kraft

Non-PRO German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Die Liebe ist eine gewaltige Kraft; sie ist die einzige unüberwindliche Kraft dieser Welt.
Dostojewski
Proposed translations (English)
3 +5 Love is a tremendous force; it is the only unsurmountable power.
5 +4 Loving humility is a terrible force: it is the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else li
3 -1 The power of love is immense – it’s the only one that can’t be broken
Change log

Mar 21, 2015 19:53: Martina Kilgo Created KOG entry

Jul 15, 2015 13:59: Harald Moelzer (medical-translator) changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): philgoddard, Cilian O'Tuama, Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)

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Discussion

Horst Huber (X) Mar 21, 2015:
The question is not closed, so --- One more thing, Columbo would say. Can't believe I read the whole thing, but here is what the same Starets Zosima says earlier in the book --- it might tell us a bit more about the quote. Part I, Book 2, 3, p. 65."If you repent, you must love. And if you love, you are of God ... Love gains everything, redeems everything. And if even I, a sinful being just as you are, have been moved and have pity for you, how much more so will God. Love is such a priceless treasure that you can purchase the whole world with it, and redeem not only your own but other people's sins too. Go now and have no fear."
Johanna Timm, PhD Mar 12, 2015:
Beautiful! Thanks for looking for it! "overpowering force" for "страшная сила"! Another version: Pevear /Volokhonsky “A loving humility is a terrible power, the most powerful of all, nothing compares with it" http://ichr.ac.in/mad_lec.pdf
Horst Huber (X) Mar 12, 2015:
Found some more. Not knowing any Russian, but a bit about how books run, I found the quote in the English of Ignat Avsey, Oxford UP 1994, Part Two, Book 6, 3, g, p. 400 "'Is it better to resort to force or to rely on humility and love? ' Always say to yourself:' I shall conquer by humility and love.' Having made such a decision once and for all, you'll be able to conquer the whole world. Humility in love is an overpowering force, the strongest there is, and there is no other like it. Every day and every hour, every minute even, watch yourself to ensure that you have not sullied this precept." (part of the "Discourses and teachings of Starets Zosima"). That would go with Johanna's version, I would think?
Johanna Timm, PhD Mar 8, 2015:
Horst! Thanks for your suggestion to dig deeper! It was fun to use my Russian again after all those years; it brought back many fond memories of my "Slavic period":-) But I agree with you and also with Phil that using the complete original quote as basis for the English translation might be an interesting academic exercise, but not necessarily result in a usable translation for the asker.
Horst Huber (X) Mar 8, 2015:
My undying admiration for your searching skills. Now what the translations of the novel have done with it, might or might not fit the asker's context? Again, I have to visit the library, even if there is a searchable version ...
Johanna Timm, PhD Mar 8, 2015:
Found it. “Смирение любовное — страшная сила изо всех сильнейшая, подобной которой и нет ничего”
http://www.trsobor.ru/listok.php?id=597
(Liebevolle Demut ist eine gewaltige Macht, die stärkste von allen, und es gibt keine andere, die ihr gleichkäme. ) Brüder Karamasow, Staretz Sossima
Johanna Timm, PhD Mar 8, 2015:
me try: A literal translation would be: Любовь - это мощная сила; Любовь - это единственная непреодолимымая сила мира.
(It's been 20 years, so my Russian is a bit rusty.. to find the original quote, one would have to google for : Цитаты о любви Достоевский)
I'm busy right now but might come back to this later.
Horst Huber (X) Mar 8, 2015:
Any one around who can read it in Russian? The way the German is phrased, it is not tautology; rather the first phrase is a steady build-up to the second. Love is not just tremendous, it is the only unconquerable power, force -- in (of?) this world -- that should not get lost.
Werner Maurer Mar 7, 2015:
The only... ...unstoppable force.
Lancashireman Mar 7, 2015:
64 references to 'love' here http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky
Surprisingly, yours didn't make it into the list.

Proposed translations

+5
18 mins
Selected

Love is a tremendous force; it is the only unsurmountable power.

Peer comment(s):
agree Sam Townshend : I might be tempted to use 'unconquerable' rather than insurmountable, but the difference is academic :-)
2 mins
agree philgoddard
2 hrs
agree Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
12 hrs
agree Jacek Konopka : Love-ly:)
12 hrs
agree Gudrun Wolfrath
2 days 12 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
-1
4 hrs

The power of love is immense – it’s the only one that can’t be broken

This might work...
Peer comment(s):
disagree Cilian O'Tuama : the only one what? //Not too long, just incoherent. //Still illogical
1 hr
Power. Sentence too long?//If you can’t even find the subject of a simple sentence, that lack of understanding is on you.
neutral Lancashireman : Purely hypothetical, of course, but I'm wondering whether Dosty would've used the apostrophised forms if he'd been writing in English?
2 hrs
Fascinating thought. However, even with literary quotes, the normal expectation is to translate into contemporary English unless requested otherwise
Something went wrong...
+4
9 hrs

Loving humility is a terrible force: it is the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else li

based on the Russian original -see discussion box
http://goo.gl/O1pLoC
http://www.justinbfung.com/2012/05/12/always-choose-humble-l...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2015-03-08 06:07:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

...there is nothing else like it!


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2015-03-08 06:08:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I did not mean to choose CL 5, sorry.
Peer comment(s):
agree seehand : Die demütige Liebe ist eine gewaltige Kraft, die stärkste, die es gibt, eine Kraft, der nichts gleichkommt. auf deutsch ...
5 hrs
Thanks seehand, yes that's a more accurate translation.
agree Ramey Rieger (X) : I would say 'loving in humbleness..`to avoid loving humility, other wise, spot on!
6 hrs
A very nice alternative, thanks Ramey.
agree Lancashireman : Well researched, though I suspect that the element of 'humility' may be irrelevant to gabirita's context.
6 hrs
Смирение /smirenie is a central and very loaded term in Dostoyevsky’s work –too bad that the German translation reduces this quote to a Hallmark card saying. http://goo.gl/Ut3JnU
neutral philgoddard : This is helpful, but it's also confusing things - we started off by translating the German given to us by the asker, but now we're translating something different in Russian. I think Martina deserves the points.
12 hrs
You are right Phil. I got carried away!
agree Horst Huber (X) : Chapeau bas (if memory serves).
3 days 20 hrs
Merci à vous! (googled that)
Something went wrong...
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