Ludwig van Beethoven Quotes

I met [Meyerbeer] at the performance of my "Battle." Most of the composers then in Vienna were kind enough to undertake something or other in my orchestra, and the young man played the big drum. Ha! ha! ha! (a peal of laughter). I had reason not to be very well satisfied with him. He was always behindhand, and I had to give it him roundly. (New peal of laughter.) He must have felt mortified by my observations; but there is no reliance to be placed in him; he has not the courage to raise his arm at the proper moment.

Prince, what you are you are by accident of birth; what I am I am through myself. There have been and still will be thousands of princes; there is only one Beethoven.

Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.

I used to be too free with my judgements and made enemies in this way; now I judge no one, and for no other reason than that I want to harm no one, and in the end I say to myself: if there's something decent in anyone, it will be upheld in spite of every kind of malice and envy; if there's nothing solid in him, nothing that's durable, then he'll collapse in any case, though others support him in every possible way.

I will take fate by the throat; it will never bend me completely to its will.

Even in poverty I lived like a king for I tell you that nobility is the thing that makes a king

We finite creatures with infinite spirits are born only to suffer and to rejoice and one could almost say that the most excellent among us derive joy from suffering.

روحم را در وجودِ خود بگنجان و آن را به سرزمینِ معنا بفرست

ever thine, ever mine, ever ours

Anyone who tells a lie has not pure heart, and cannot make good soup.

Deine Liebe macht mich zum glücklichsten und zum unglücklichsten zugleich.

I'm sorry I can't hear you

Love demands all, and has a right to all.

My misfortune is doubly painful to me because I am bound to be misunderstood; for me there can be no relaxation with my fellow-men, no refined conversations, no mutual exchange of ideas, I must live alone like someone who has been banished.

Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.