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Frottierungen mit Bürsten
Oct 8, 2008 09:57
15 yrs ago
4 viewers *
German term

Wege entstehen dadurch, dass man sie geht

German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Quote by Kafka:

"Wege entstehen dadurch, dass man sie geht"

Anyone know an "official" English translation. Can't seem to find a satisfactory one anywhere.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 Paths are made by walking.
3 +3 Paths arise where people go.
3 +2 We carve out our paths by walking them
4 Paths are created by walking them
4 Paths are established, because they're taken.
4 Paths open up, when treading them
4 Paths open up as you walk them.
3 Paths are created by following/walking them
3 Paths are created by treading them
1 a path comes about only if actually taken
Change log

Oct 8, 2008 10:45: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"

Discussion

njbeckett (asker) Oct 8, 2008:
The context is the open lines of an invitation to a wedding.
njbeckett (asker) Oct 8, 2008:
No sorry. Although I have read quite a bit of Kafka in German I don't know where this si from.
Helen Shiner Oct 8, 2008:
Do you know where the quote is taken from - book, letters?

Proposed translations

+5
20 mins
Selected

Paths are made by walking.

Franz Kafka
Peer comment(s):
agree Helen Shiner : http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka - under unsourced quotes. And this version does have a slightly different meaning or emphasis from others proposed.
30 mins
agree Ulrike Kraemer
45 mins
agree Joachim Krick
50 mins
agree Nicole Y. Adams, M.A.
51 mins
neutral Ken Cox : Good for the literal meaning, but IMO the figurative meaning is not as evident in the English as in the German.
1 hr
agree interpr8er : yes, or paths take shape through walking/treading them
4 hrs
neutral Lancashireman : Sorry, I can't take this one seriously (a 'one-hit-wonder'): http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/thesebootsaremad...
12 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
30 mins

Paths are created by walking them

Reference:

http://www.walk4gaya.com/

Something went wrong...
41 mins

Paths are created by following/walking them

my suggestion
Peer comment(s):
neutral sylvie malich (X) : hmmm, if you are following or walking a path, then it has already been created...
19 mins
Something went wrong...
1 hr

Paths are created by treading them

Just another option, as used here:

http://www.caminada.ch/index.php?cat=links

However, the "paths are made by walking" version does seem to be the one found most often in English.
Something went wrong...
+3
2 hrs

Paths arise where people go.

If this suits your context and you can take the liberty of departing from the 'usual' English version.
If the alleged quotation is listed as 'unsourced' on the Wikipedia site, it can probably only be attributed to Kafka, and the attribution of German quotations is notoriously unreliable.
Peer comment(s):
agree Susan Zimmer
54 mins
agree Rebecca Garber
1 hr
agree Stephen Reader : beautiful. Agree with your context proviso. It might be an exhortation to 'venture forth' etc. , which might require something more emphatic - though it could do to just imagine the "go" stressed a little in speech!
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
7 hrs

We carve out our paths by walking them

In case you do decide to move away from the wikipedia version, another suggestion that I hope gives some sense of the metaphorical aspect more strongly. Normally one carves out a destiny - and I do think this is an exhortation to 'walk your own pathway', 'get on with it' and such like.
Peer comment(s):
agree Ken Cox : Now tht the asker has let the other penny drop, this would be more appropriate to the occasion
1 hr
Thanks, Ken - yes, it does change things a little
agree Lancashireman : Sounds like someone didn't remove their ice-skates...
5 hrs
Images of rocky landscapes and hewn pathways ... thanks, Andrew!
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

Paths are established, because they're taken.

Brought to you by Voice in the Wilderness Productions;

Kafka or not, the intent here is a paradox. a chicken and egg puzzle. A zen meditation.

The answer has to address the time and causality connection contained in the original. If those elements are lost, it's just words found in a dictionary.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : "Sorry, sir. This path is taken." // Ah, I see where you're coming from. Extraordinarily sensitive use of the comma, by the way. Regards. AJS
5 hrs
Ach weel, gangin' it wis owr sweer onyroad. E'll jist tak anither.
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29 days

a path comes about only if actually taken

poetic license
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82 days

Paths open up, when treading them

Why not.
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187 days

Paths open up as you walk them.

That's how I would phrase it.
Something went wrong...
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