“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”
Source: Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words
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Famous Ludwig van Beethoven Quotes
“Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup.”
“Music is indeed the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.”
“Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.”
“Nothing is more intolerable than to have to admit to yourself your own errors.”
“Recommend to your children virtue; that alone can make them happy, not gold.”
“This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.”
“A great poet is the most precious jewel of a nation.”
Source: Letters from the Collection of Ludwig Nohl: Also His Letters to the Archduke Rudolph, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olmütz, K.W. from the Collection of Ludwig, Ritter Von Köchel. Translated by Lady Wallace, with a Portrait and Facsimile
“Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes.”
Source: Beethoven: The Man and the Artist
“Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?”
Source: Beethoven: The Man and the Artist
“Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.”
“I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.”
Source: Beethoven's Letters
“I love a tree more than a man.”
Source: Library of Piano Works, Vol 1: Dances, Songs, and Studies, Book and CD
“I shall seize fate by the throat.”
Source: Beethoven's Letters
“There are and always will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven!”
“Applaud my friends, the comedy is over... [on his death bed]”
“Love demands all, and has a right to all.”
Source: Beethoven's Letters (1790–1826)
Source: Ludwig Van Beethoven for Classical Guitar - Tablature: Arranged for Guitar by John Trie
“Don't only practise your art, but force your way into its secrets.”
“We all make mistakes, but everyone makes different mistakes”
“Music is the mediator between the life of the senses and the life of the spirit.”
“Rossini would have been a great composer if his teacher had spanked him enough on his backside.”
“I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.”
Source: Ludwig Van Beethoven for Classical Guitar - Tablature: Arranged for Guitar by John Trie