This paper examines the factors which can help a translator/reviser who has been practising his profession for over thirty years continue to feel motivated to translate. There are many factors which can keep the will to translate alive: the urge to tell a story, an appetite for discovery, the need to get to the bottom of things, the desire to pull off an exploit, a feeling of freedom, the desire to convey a message, etc.. All these urges, needs or feelings are outer manifestations of the will to translate. The diversity and strength of the factors driving the will to translate can help secure a positive outcome to the paradox that lies at the heart of a profession which often generates as much frustration as it does satisfaction.This will then allow a dialectic of desire and pleasure to emerge in which the will to translate can outlast the numbing effect of routine.