"Be honest without the thought of Heaven or Hell"

As a lapsed translator and great agonizer over "my miseries," this article in the current New Yorker about Iraqi translators for the Americans has been a jarring read.

There is, of course, much in the long article that will take rereading and pondering. But this quote, from a translator who had it on his wall as a young man at loose ends for lack of a job and a path, stopped me short. Because, in my current inner work, it means to me to be honest in my own mind, in my own stories about my life situation, in my own scenarios, as well in everything I say and do.

I am jarred--and sobered. By the whole article, which is, as New Yorker articles are, you-are-there style, written with people and not just the reporter's observation.

p.s. If you get into the article and are interested in George Packer's interview about writing it, you can see that interview online only.