Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

um schweigen zu lernen

English translation:

to learn to shut up

Added to glossary by adamgajlewicz
Jan 27, 2011 19:53
13 yrs ago
German term

um schweigen zu lernen

German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Beautiful phrase
I have searched for this dictum in the original English without success. It was coined by Ernest Hemingway. In German it goes as follows: "Man braucht zwei Jahre, um sprechen zu lernen, und fünfzig, um schweigen zu lernen". The word "schweigen" is - IMHO - almost untranslatable into English (being silent does not express the inner essence of the German lovely word), which is why I have always wondered what Hemingway wrote in the original. I wonder if you would please help me identify the original sentence.
Change log

Jan 29, 2011 08:45: adamgajlewicz changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/706018">adamgajlewicz's</a> old entry - "um schweigen zu lernen"" to ""to learn to shut up""

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Lancashireman

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Discussion

Horst Huber (X) Jan 28, 2011:
silent/shut up Hemingway may have said both; but "shut up" is not the same as "remain silent"; learning silence is yet something else, and I haven't.
Danila Moro Jan 28, 2011:
I've also found this one: It takes two years to learn how to talk, but fifty to learn how to remain silent." - E. Hemingway
Nicola Wood Jan 28, 2011:
50 years or 60 years? I have found both. does anybody know for sure which it is?
adamgajlewicz (asker) Jan 27, 2011:
@INES Thank you, Ines. But does anyone know where the quote comes from?
Ines R. Jan 27, 2011:
He said 60 years;-) "It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to shut up" Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
adamgajlewicz (asker) Jan 27, 2011:
@philgoddard "It's a lot less poetic than the asker thinks". You are right, Phil. I could even say I feel slightly disappointed, but I did want to know the original sentence, and now I do.

Proposed translations

+7
5 mins
Selected

to learn to shut up

I've seen two versions. Sixty to learn to shut up and a lifetime.

It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to shut up.



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Note added at 7 mins (2011-01-27 20:00:54 GMT)
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Hemingway noted that it takes two years to learn to talk and a lifetime to learn to shut up.

http://www.thefatherofthebridespeech.com/father-of-the-bride...

Note from asker:
Thank you, Kim. You command my respect and admiration absolutely.
Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : I have a feeling this is one of those quotes where we'll never find the original version of the whole thing - but these four words are almost definitely right. It's a lot less poetic than the asker thinks!
4 mins
agree Zareh Darakjian Ph.D.
18 mins
agree Rebecca Garber : learn to shut up sounds more like Hemingway. Not poetic, but blunt.
51 mins
agree Ramey Rieger (X) : absolutely Papa
51 mins
agree Ines R. : "It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to shut up" Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
52 mins
agree Thayenga : I've found "learn to be silent", but knowing Hemingway, your translation is more like him. :)
1 hr
agree Eleanore Strauss : shut up is definitely Hemingway...and schweigen in German is not inherently poetic or gentle...
1 day 1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "We haven't been able to locate the original sentence. The answer chosen by the majority wins."
19 mins

learn how to be silent/ master silence

I have found two versions of this
"it takes two years to learn to talk, but fifty to learn to be silent"

http://www.lucistrust.org/en/content/download/1075/10710/fil...

"It takes ...but 50 to master silence" -
http://juliaguiomar.blogspot.com/2007/09/la-frase-del-da.htm...

I think this second sounds betterand more authentic, but I cannot tell you the original source

it is also frequently paraphrased to it takes two years to learn to talk and a lifetime to learn to shut up - several instances of this

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Note added at 28 mins (2011-01-27 20:21:39 GMT)
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Sorry, should be learn "to be silent", not "how to be silent"

Have also found "learn to remain silent".

Also sorry Kim, your answer had not appeared on my page when I posted this answer
Note from asker:
Thank you, Nicola.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Jim Tucker (X) : too gentle to be Hemingway
54 mins
maybe - but both of these were cited in quotation marks, whcih the "shut up" version wasn'T. In any case these are not my translations, but quotations I found cited as from Hemingway.
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

Möglichkeiten frei zu übersetzen

to learn to be still

even, to learn to listen to silence - or

to hear one`s inner self

to hear silence, syn. to contemplate

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Note added at 1 Tag2 Stunden (2011-01-28 22:18:49 GMT)
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Nachdem ich über ebooks und ältere Originalausgaben nachgedacht habe, habe ich einfach mal unter Ernest Hemingway quotes gegoogelt und u.A. folgendes gefunden:
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/ernest_hemingway/
Ich überlasse es dir, ob du lieber die Recherche anstrebst oder frei übersetzen möchtest. Dann sollte diese Übersetzung natürlich auch unsere Zeit prägen.
Note from asker:
Thank you, Juliana.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Eleanore Strauss : actually I like "to learn to be still"...that is more poetic, but not Hemingway
22 hrs
Something went wrong...
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