"Translation: always takes the register and level of naturally written prose up a notch or two; is the guardian and, to a surprising degree, the creator of the standard forms of language; sometimes (in the case of the Bible) enriches the target language, while corrupting the original text; is the opposite of empire; in addition to pointing to an original text, also generates a genuinely new thing; is meaning; preserves the information and general force of the original; is a portrait in oils; is an appropriation of the source; is another name for the human condition. "

David Bellos, who runs Princeton's Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication
Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything

via Words Without Borders