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(see text - Martin Luther King quote)

English translation: see text

14:06 Aug 30, 2007
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Martin Luther King quote
Italian term or phrase: (see text - Martin Luther King quote)
Hi folks,
I'm trying to find the original Black American English quote by Martin Luther King Jr. of this text in Italian:

"Cerca di scoprire il disegno che sei chiamato ad essere, poi mettiti con passione a realizzarlo nella vita"

I've done all the usual Googling, but no joy. Interestingly, the Italian translation exists on the it.wikiquote.org page for MLK, but I can't find anything that even looks like it on the corresponding English wikiquote page.

This is a quote at the beginning of a chapter heading, so I can't get out of it by rewriting it along the lines of "Martin Luther King advised that..."

(Could this quote be misattributed?)
Colin Ryan (X)
Local time: 14:48
English translation:see text
Explanation:
Interessante... è la traduzione dell'ultima parte di una poesia di Douglas Malloch citata da Martin Luther King nel discorso "Facing the Challenge of a New Age" (1957, lo trovi su Amazon in questo volume: _A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. _)

Se non puoi essere
un pino sul monte,
sii una piccola saggina nella valle,
ma sii la migliore,
piccola saggina
sulla sponda del ruscello.

Se non puoi essere,
un albero,
sii un cespuglio.

Se non puoi essere
un’autostrada,
sii un sentiero.

Se non puoi essere
il sole,
sii una stella.

Sii sempre il meglio
di ciò che sei.
Cerca di scoprire
il disegno che sei
chiamato ad essere:
poi mettiti con passione
a realizzarlo nella vita.
http://www.elenafrancesconi.it/senonpuoiessere.asp

Be the Best of Whatever You Are
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill
Be a scrub in the valley--but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway some happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass--
But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us here.
There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,
And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail--
Be the best of whatever you are!

La poesia viene spessa attribuita a Martin Luther King.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-30 15:40:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sempre più interessante...
in _Dieci cammelli inginocchiati. Variazioni sulla preghiera_, Ermes Ronchi cita la poesia, la attribuisce erroneamente a Martin Luther King, ma riporta una traduzione corretta e **dopo la citazione** commenta: "Cerca di scoprire il disegno che sei chiamato ad essere, poi mettiti con passione a realizzarlo nella vita"...
Selected response from:

silvia b (X)
Local time: 14:48
Grading comment
Hi there, well done - I eventually found the Malloch poem myself (spelled Mallok in most Italian websites, which didn't make things any easier!)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1see text
silvia b (X)
3 +1see text
Catherine Bolton
3see text
WendellR


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
see text


Explanation:
I think it's this (though I'm not sure what Black American English is):

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

And I suspect it's a paraphrase, not a true quote. That "what design are you called to be" sounds suspiciously like a bad translation from EN to IT in the first instance.

WendellR
Local time: 14:48
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
see text


Explanation:
Hi Ryan,
It seems it's been a little misquoted. I found bits of the original in Italian, and from went from there:

Martin Luther King diceva: "Se non puoi essere un pino sul monte, sii una saggina nella valle, ma sii la migliore e piccola saggina sulla sponda del ruscello. Se non puoi essere un albero, sii un cespuglio. Se non puoi essere un’autostrada, sii un sentiero. Se non puoi essere il sole, sii una stella. Sii sempre il meglio di ciò che sei. **Cerca di scoprire il disegno che sei chiamato ad essere, poi mettiti a realizzarlo nella vita".**

If you google the bit about the pine tree, you find a few hits, but none of the stuff is exactly like the Italian. It seems to have been taken from MLK's speech to the NAACP convention in 1957. Here is the passage and, as you can see, it is the part before the one Wendell found.

There are so many areas, I could name so many areas that we've got to go out in and be prepared for. And then we've got to get ready in this new age to compete with people. And when you get ready for that you don't worry about losing your job in the new age, you see. You see, teachers don't worry about the emerging new age when they are prepared for the emerging new age. If you are prepared you will come to see that you are going to be a good teacher, not a good Negro teacher. Don't go out in this new age to be a good Negro doctor, a good Negro lawyer, a good Negro minister or preacher, a good Negro skilled laborer. But go out to do a good job irregardless of race, (Yeah) for we will be forced now to compete with people. And then decide to do your job well, whatever it is. As I used to hear Dr. [Benjamin] Mays say at Morehouse College, "Do your job so well that the living, the dead, or the unborn could do it no better. [laughter] Do it well. If it falls your lot to sweep streets in life, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures. Sweep streets like Beethoven composed music. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well.'"

If you pull out this middle, this is what you get:
But go out to do a good job irregardless [sic] of race, (Yeah) for we will be forced now to compete with people. And then decide to do your job well, whatever it is.

HTH
Catherine

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-30 15:15:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

BTW, the bit about the pine tree follows this section in the link. Sorry - forgot to write that.


    Reference: http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/papers/vol4/...
Catherine Bolton
Local time: 14:48
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  silvia b (X): sì, proviene dalla poesia citata in quel discorso, con quella curiosa variazione alla fine
3 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
see text


Explanation:
Interessante... è la traduzione dell'ultima parte di una poesia di Douglas Malloch citata da Martin Luther King nel discorso "Facing the Challenge of a New Age" (1957, lo trovi su Amazon in questo volume: _A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. _)

Se non puoi essere
un pino sul monte,
sii una piccola saggina nella valle,
ma sii la migliore,
piccola saggina
sulla sponda del ruscello.

Se non puoi essere,
un albero,
sii un cespuglio.

Se non puoi essere
un’autostrada,
sii un sentiero.

Se non puoi essere
il sole,
sii una stella.

Sii sempre il meglio
di ciò che sei.
Cerca di scoprire
il disegno che sei
chiamato ad essere:
poi mettiti con passione
a realizzarlo nella vita.
http://www.elenafrancesconi.it/senonpuoiessere.asp

Be the Best of Whatever You Are
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill
Be a scrub in the valley--but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway some happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass--
But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us here.
There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,
And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail--
Be the best of whatever you are!

La poesia viene spessa attribuita a Martin Luther King.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-30 15:40:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sempre più interessante...
in _Dieci cammelli inginocchiati. Variazioni sulla preghiera_, Ermes Ronchi cita la poesia, la attribuisce erroneamente a Martin Luther King, ma riporta una traduzione corretta e **dopo la citazione** commenta: "Cerca di scoprire il disegno che sei chiamato ad essere, poi mettiti con passione a realizzarlo nella vita"...

silvia b (X)
Local time: 14:48
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Hi there, well done - I eventually found the Malloch poem myself (spelled Mallok in most Italian websites, which didn't make things any easier!)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Catherine Bolton: Great work, Silvia! :-)
3 hrs
  -> grazie Catherine :)) è curioso come in italiano questa citazione sia stata modificata, chissà se la fonte è proprio Ronchi
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