Why so many different dishes? Man sinks almost to the level of an animal when eating
becomes his chief pleasure.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy, it is the wine of a new
procreation, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for men and makes them
drunk with the spirit.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
I want to seize fate by the throat.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?
– Ludwig von Beethoven
I have always counted myself amongst the greatest admirers of Mozart and shall remain so
until my last breath.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Follow the advice of others only in the rarest cases.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
There is no loftier mission than to approach the Divinity nearer than other men, and to
disseminate the divine rays among mankind.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
This is the mark of distinction of a truly admirable man: steadfastness in times of trouble.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Then let us all do what is right, strive with all our might toward the unattainable, develop as
fully as we can the gifts God has given us, and never stop learning.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends
mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
To play without passion is inexcusable.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
A great poet is the most precious jewel of a nation.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
The world is a king, and like a king, desires flattery in return for favor; but true art is selfish
and perverse – it will not submit to the mold of flattery.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
It seemed unthinkable for me to leave the world forever before I had produced all that I felt
called upon to produce.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
I always have a picture in my mind when composing, and follow its lines.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Beethoven can write music, thank God. But he can do nothing else on earth.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more
valuable possession than time; therefore never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
How great was the humiliation when one who stood beside me heard the distant sound of a
shepherd’s pipe, and I heard nothing; or heard the shepherd singing, and I heard nothing.
Such experiences brought me to the verge of despair; but little more and I should have put
an end to my life. Art, art alone deterred me.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Recommend to your children virtues, that alone can make them happy, not gold.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can
raise men to the divine.
– Ludwig von Beethoven
I am not in the habit of rewriting my compositions. I never did it because I am profoundly
convinced that every change of detail changes the character of the whole.
– Ludwig von Beethoven