(January 7, 1820, in a communication to the Court of Appeals in the suit
touching the guardianship of his nephew Karl.)
152. “Nature’s weaknesses are nature’s endowments; reason, the guide,
must seek to lead and lessen them.”
(Diary, 1817.)
153. “It is man’s habit to hold his fellow man in esteem because he
committed no greater errors.”
(May 6, 1811, to Breitkopf and Hartel, in a letter complaining of faulty
printing in some of his compositions.)
154. “There is nothing more efficient in enforcing obedience upon others
than the belief on their part that you are wiser than they...Without
tears fathers can not inculcate virtue in their children, or teachers
learning and wisdom in their pupils; even the laws, by compelling tears
from the citizens, compel them also to strive for justice.”
(Diary, 1815.)
155. “It is only becoming in a youth to combine his duties toward
education and advancement with those which he owes to his benefactor and
supporter; this I did toward my parents.”
(May 19, 1825, to his nephew Karl.)
156. “You can not honor the memory of your father better than to
continue your studies with the greatest zeal, and strive to become an
honest and excellent man.”
(To his nephew, 1816-18.)
157. “Let your conduct always be amiable; through art and science the
best and noblest of men are bound together and your future vocation will
not exclude you.”
(Baden, July 18, 1825, to his nephew, who had decided to become a
merchant.)
158. “It is very true that a drop will hollow a stone; a thousand
lovely impressions are obliterated when children are placed in wooden
institutions while they might receive from their parents the most
soulful impressions which would continue to exert their influence till
the latest age.”
(Diary, spring of 1817. Beethoven was dissatisfied with Giannatasio’s
school in which he had placed his nephew. “Karl is a different child
after he has been with me a few hours” (Diary). In 1826, after the
attempt at suicide, Beethoven said to Breuning: “My Karl was in an
institute; educational institutions furnish forth only hot house
plants.”)
159. “Drops of water wear away a stone in time, not by force but by
continual falling. Only through tireless industry are the sciences
achieved so that one can truthfully say: no day without its line,--nulla
dies sine linea.”
(1799, in a sketch for a theoretical handbook for Archduke Rudolph.)