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Achsmessbühne

Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Dienen kommt vor Verdienen

English translation:

we serve before we deserve

Added to glossary by Kim Metzger
Feb 6, 2009 01:39
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term

Dienen kommt vor Verdienen

German to English Bus/Financial Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
I'd appreciate your ideas on how to translate this proverb/maxim.

Warum Hoffnung bessere Geschäfte macht
Die Märkte von Morgen gehören jenen, die Hoffnung machen. Nur wer an die anderen denkt, kann sich selber Gutes tun. Denn Dienen kommt vor Verdienen. Der Wandel vom Raubtier- zum Hoffnungskapitalismus hat begonnen.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +4 we serve before we deserve
4 +3 People before profit
4 first you provide a service, then you make some money
3 +1 (public) service trumps private gain
3 +1 service before reward
3 work hard, (then) play hard
3 Service (comes) before self
3 serving must precede earning
3 Put others first.
3 serve others before you serve yourself
2 work before p(l)ay
2 the higher the salary, the greater the responsibility (to the community?)
References
variant phrasing

Discussion

Kim Metzger (asker) Feb 7, 2009:
Hoffnungskapitalismus Good idea, hazmat. I used 'capitalism of hope' and hadn't even seen Helen's suggestion.
Kim Metzger (asker) Feb 7, 2009:
hope That's what I used.
Lori Dendy-Molz Feb 7, 2009:
capitalism of hope I would tend to favor Helen's 'capitalism of hope' for 'Hoffnungskapitalismus' as being both fitting and a particularly timely reference.
hazmatgerman (X) Feb 6, 2009:
Herr Metzger: mich würde sehr interessieren, wie Sie "Hoffnungskapitalismus" übertragen; compassionate capitalism, perhaps?

Proposed translations

+4
3 hrs
Selected

we serve before we deserve

Seen on a Swiss company's website as their translation of the German statement of company values.

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Note added at 12 hrs (2009-02-06 14:06:27 GMT)
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Another way of saying it might be: First we serve, then we deserve.

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Note added at 3 days12 hrs (2009-02-09 14:25:26 GMT) Post-grading
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Thank you very much for the points, Kim!
Reference:

http://www.wtz.ch/our_values.html

Peer comment(s):
agree Jutta Wappel : Excellent idea!
1 hr
Dankeschön, Jutta! Was sagt man so schön vom blinden Huhn? :-)
agree hazmatgerman (X) : I like it but as a nonnative am unsure whether it avoids unwanted connotation with s.th. like "just deserve". Might be considered ironic.
2 hrs
Dankeschön, hazmatgerman! M.E. ist her der selbe Ton wie im Deutschen. Also, wenn sich jemand angesprochen fühlt, dann hat der Spruch ja die richtige Wirkung. :-)
agree Armorel Young : Comes closest to the original both in meaning and in word play
3 hrs
Thank you Amorel! I can only take credit for finding it. :-)
agree Lori Dendy-Molz : Or maybe: Only those who serve can also deserve. I like the wordplay here.
1 day 8 hrs
Thank you, Lori!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you all very much. It was tough choosing the best answer because there were so many good solutions. In addition to Inge's proposal, I also thought the following would work well: Mark – people before profit Helen – service before reward Mary – service comes before gain "
25 mins

work hard, (then) play hard

Would be my suggestion in this context.
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1 hr

first you provide a service, then you make some money

or something like that. That is the way I understand it.
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2 hrs

work before p(l)ay

closest idiom i could think of right now, though the meaning changes slightly, hence the L in brackets..
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+1
3 hrs

(public) service trumps private gain

It's not entirely clear from the context, but this is what I take to be the message. Other formulation: service comes before gain.
Peer comment(s):
agree hazmatgerman (X) : See ref for similar phrase. Not sure whether "public" is apt as source does not say so.
2 hrs
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3 hrs

Service (comes) before self

...is how I read it in the context.
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+3
6 hrs

People before profit

This is a concise rendering of the maxim itself.
I'm not quite sure how to fit it into your translation.
Peer comment(s):
agree suew
2 hrs
agree mill2
3 hrs
agree Helen Shiner : perfect - and perhaps 'the capitalism of hope'?
3 hrs
disagree hazmatgerman (X) : The emphasis in German is on attitude, not profitability, IMO. Even serving others can - and deserves to be - profitable.
3 hrs
Yes - it's a matter of priority. The text claims that serving people must come first - of course, profit is a positive effect of good service. My solution stands: People before profit.
agree Lirka : I think it fits well here. Short and to the point.
4 hrs
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6 hrs

serving must precede earning

serving must take precedence over earning
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7 hrs

the higher the salary, the greater the responsibility (to the community?)

yet another
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7 hrs

Put others first.

Like most idioms I think it virtually impossible to translate with any real degree of literalness.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2009-02-06 09:07:09 GMT)
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"Public need before private greed" is an alternative (BUT the PROBLEM, though, is that this does have 'historical connotations' with it).
Example sentence:

Granny possessed a great secret: she knew how to put others first. If she bothered to think about her own needs, it was only after everyone else had been taken care of.

Reference:

http://www.easwaran.org/page/60

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9 hrs

serve others before you serve yourself

may be adapted depending on the general style
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+1
9 hrs

service before reward

which one will surely receive in heaven (or some such)

Commitment to Customers. Our customers’ success is our driver. We put ourselves in our customers’ shoes. We aim to understand their needs and to be responsive to those needs. We are in partnership with our customers. We believe in service before reward.
http://www.daxko.com/about/mission

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Note added at 9 hrs (2009-02-06 11:16:04 GMT)
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http://www.ijawland.com/

And a very interesting use of the phrase: see 8.14 [!]

http://dragonlands.dyns.be/
Peer comment(s):
agree hazmatgerman (X) : Methinks the suggestion is well based on examples.
36 mins
Verily so - grateful thanks, hazmatgerman!/Das auch noch!
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Reference comments

6 hrs
Reference:

variant phrasing

Source for "public service before private gain"
The source is http://www.c-spanarchives.org/congress/?q=node/77531&id=7384...
but system refused to accept it as valid.
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