“I despise a world which does not feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy”
“Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.”
“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”
“Nothing is more intolerable than to have to admit to yourself your own errors”
“What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven.”
“Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.”
“Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes.”
“Applaud friends, the comedy is over. (Said as he was dying)”
“No friend have I. I must live by myself alone; but I know well that God is nearer to me than others in my art, so I will walk fearlessly with Him.”
“Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.”
“This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.”
“Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.”
“Off with you! You're a happy fellow, for you'll give happiness and joy to many other people. There is nothing better or greater than that!”
“No one should drive a hard bargain with an artist.”
“A great poet is the most precious jewel of a nation.”
“Recommend virtue to your children, that alone - not wealth - can give happiness. It upholds in adversity and the thought of it and my art prevents me from putting an end to my life.”
“Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?”
“The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, 'Thus far and no farther.'”
“My misfortune is doubly painful to me because it will result in my being misunderstood. For me there can be no recreation in the company of others, no intelligent conversation, no exchange of information with peers; only the most pressing needs can make me venture into society. I am obliged to live like an outcast.”
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/ludwig_van_beethoven/2.html
"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"
"It is my wish that you may have at better and freer life than I have had. Recommend virtue to your children; it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience; this was what upheld me in time of misery."
"I shall seize fate by the throat; it will never bend me completely to its will."
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/40589.Ludwig_van_Beethoven
"Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman."
"Music, verily, is the mediator between intellectual and sensuous life... the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend," in a letter to Goethe
"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 mankind and makes them spiritually drunk."
"I always have a picture in my mind when composing, and follow its lines."
"Tones sound and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes."
"I never write a work continuously, without interruption. I am always working on several at the same time, taking up one, then another."
"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."
"Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth."
"I have never thought of writing for renown and glory. What I have in my heart must out; that is why I write."
On his deafness:
"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."
"I shall seize Fate by the throat; it shall certainly not bend and crush me completely."
"No friend have I. I must live by myself alone; but I know well that God is nearer to me than others in my art, so I will walk fearlessly with Him."
"What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven."
Beethoven Quotes by Others
"I believe in God, Mozart, and Beethoven." - Richard Wagner
"Everything will pass, and the world will perish but the Ninth Symphony will remain." - Michael Bakunin
"If anyone has conducted a Beethoven performance, and then doesn't have to go to an osteopath, then there's something wrong. - Sir Simon Rattle, conductor
"What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about." - Conductor Thomas Beecham, on Beethoven's 7th Symphony
http://www.favorite-classical-composers.com/beethoven-quotes.html#axzz1JbiW2DmP