Ludwig van Beethoven Quotes

The vibrations on the air are the breath of God speaking to man's soul. Music is the language of God. We musicians are as close to God as man can be. We hear his voice, we read his lips, we give birth to the children of God, who sing his praise. That's what musicians are.

Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.

I wish you music to help with the burdens of life ,and to help you release your happiness to others.

Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.

Life would be flat without music. It is the background to all I do. It speaks to the heart in its own special way like nothing else.

To play without passion is inexcusable!

What I have in my heart and soul - must find a way out. That's the reason for music.

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

An artist is someone who has learned to trust in himself.

Nothing is more intolerable than to have to admit to yourself your own errors.

Hide your secret even from the closest friend; learn to be silent.

Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.

Do you think I give a damn about your and your pathetic violin?

Music is indeed the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.

Music can change the world.

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.

What will be the judgment a century hence concerning the lorded works of our favorite composers today? Inasmuch as nearly everything is subject to the changes of time, and - more's the pity- the fashions of time, only that which is good and true will endure like a rock and no wanton hand will ever venture to defile it. Then, let every man do that which is right, strive with all his might towards the goal which can never be obtained, develop to the last breath the gifts with which the gracious Creator has endowed him, and never cease to learn. For life is short, art eternal.

I haven't a single friend; I must live alone. But well I know that God is nearer to me than to the others of my art; I associate with Him without fear, I have always recognized and understood Him, and I have no fear for my music,-it can meet no evil fate. Those who understand it must become free from all the miseries that the others drag with them.

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

From the glow of enthusiasm I let the melody escape. I pursue it. Breathless I catch up with it. It flies again, it disappears, it plunges into a chaos of diverse emotions. I catch it again, I seize it, I embrace it with delight... I multiply it by modulations, and at last I triumph in the first theme. There is the whole symphony.

What is to reach the heart must come from above; if it does not come from thence, it will be nothing but notes, body without spirit.

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.

Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?

Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.

Love demands all, and has a right to all.

You ask me where I get my ideas. That I cannot tell you with certainty. They come unsummoned, directly, indirectly - I could seize them with my hands - out in the open air, in the woods, while walking, in the silence of the nights, at dawn, excited by moods which are translated by the poet into words, by me into tones that sound and roar and storm about me till I have set them down in notes.

Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.

If I contemplate myself as part of the Universe: what am I?

Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.

Don't only practise your art, but force your way into its secrets.

I love a tree more than a man.

Recommend to your children virtue; that alone can make them happy, not gold.

We mortals with immortal minds are only born for sufferings and joys, and one could almost say that the most excellent receive joy through sufferings.

I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.

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

How glad I am to be able to roam in the wood and thicket, among trees and flowers and rocks ... in the country, every tree seems to speak to me, saying, "Holy! Holy", in the woods, there is enchantment which expresses all things.

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.

I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.

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.

Recommend to your children to be virtuous, only the virtue can bring us happiness, not the money.

Love, and love alone, is capable of giving thee a happier life.

Händel is the greatest and ablest of all composers; from him I can still learn.

I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.

I shall hear in heaven.

I alter some things, eliminate and try again until I am satisfied. Then begins the mental working out of this material in its breadth, its narrowness, its height and depth.

In whatsoever manner it be, let me turn to God and become fruitful in good works. Nothing higher exists than to approach God more than other people and from that to extend His glory among humanity.I will place all my confidence in your eternal goodness, O God! My soul shall rejoice in Thee, immutable Being. Be my rock, my light, forever my trust.

Everything should be at once surprising and inevitable.

Good Morning, on July 7 My thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved I can only live wholly with you or not at all- Be calm my life, my all. Only by calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together. Oh continue to love me, never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved. Ever Thine Ever Mine Ever Yours

Artists who have won fame are often embarrassed by it; thus their first works are often their best.

I know of no more sacred duty than to rear and educate a child.