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Please help me translate!

Julia Bendz

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28 Mar 2017
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I am getting a tattoo done with japanese text, and as you can imagine I want to get the spelling right. The text is supposed to be a personal twist on the saying by Descartes, I think therefore I am - which in japanese is 我思う,故に
我あり - which I want to turn into "I dream therefore I am".
The "dreaming" is meant to signify playfulness and creativity, and a sense that my imagination is who I really am. My question is really which of the following is more accurate for this, or is there a better way to say it?
夢を見る, 故に我あり
or
夢を持つ, 故に我あり
Very grateful for your thoughts on this!
 
The original is 我思う、故に我あり, so 我夢見る、故に我あり would be more suitable.
 
It looks better in chinese: 我思故我在

I agree that it looks better in Chinese. In fact, based on the way this saying is expressed in Japanese, it probably entered the language as a translation from Chinese. For the message you want, you could express it as 我梦想故我在 or 我做梦故我在, or just 我梦故我在, which I think has a more traditional feel, consistent with the original, and is nice because it exactly parallels the English version. (Of course, you should confirm with a native Chinese speaker before inking, if you end up going this route...) I suggest using the modern, simplified Chinese version of the 'dream' character, as I have above, as it is much less cluttered, and therefore more suitable for a tattoo.
 
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