(July 26, 1822, to the publisher Peters, in Leipzig.)
184. “I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I
have in my heart must out; that is the reason why I compose.”
(Remark to Karl Czerny, reported in his autobiography.)
185. “I do not desire that you shall esteem me greater as an artist, but
better and more perfect as a man; when the condition of our country
is somewhat better, then my art shall be devoted to the welfare of the
poor.”
(Vienna, June 29, 1800, to Wegeler, in Bonn, writing of his return to
his native land.)
186. “Perhaps the only thing that looks like genius about me is that my
affairs are not always in the best of order, and that in this respect
nobody can be of help but myself.”
(April 22, 1801, to Hofmeister, in Leipzig excusing himself for
dilatoriness in sending him these compositions: the Pianoforte sonata
op. 22, the symphony op. 21, the septet op. 20 and the concerto op. 19.)
187. “I am free from all small vanities. Only in the divine art is the
lever which gives me power to sacrifice the best part of my life to the
celestial muses.”
(September 9, 1824, to George Nigeli, in Zurich.)
188. “Inasmuch as the purpose of the undersigned throughout his career
has not been selfish but the promotion of the interests of art, the
elevation of popular taste and the flight of his own genius toward
loftier ideals and perfection, it was inevitable that he should
frequently sacrifice his own advantages and profit to the muse.”
(December, 1804, to the Director of the Court Theatre, applying for an
engagement which was never effected.)
189. “From my earliest childhood my zeal to serve suffering humanity
with my art was never content with any kind of a subterfuge; and no
other reward is needed than the internal satisfaction which always
accompanies such a deed.”
(To Procurator Varenna, who had asked him for compositions to be played
at a charity concert in Graz.)
190. “There is no greater pleasure for me than to practice and exhibit
my art.”
(November 16, 1800, or 1801, to Wegeler.)
191. “I recognize no other accomplishments or advantages than those
which place one amongst the better class of men; where I find them,
there is my home.”
(Teplitz, July 17, 1812, to his little admirer, Emile M., in H.)
192. “From childhood I learned to love virtue, and everything beautiful
and good.”
(About 1808, to Frau Marie Bigot.)
193. “It is one of my foremost principles never to occupy any other
relations than those of friendship with the wife of another man. I
should never want to fill my heart with distrust towards those who may
chance some day to share my fate with me, and thus destroy the loveliest
and purest life for myself.”
(About 1808, to Frau Marie Bigot, after she had declined his invitation
to drive with him.)
194. “In my solitude here I miss my roommate, at least at evening and
noon, when the human animal is obliged to assimilate that which is
necessary to the production of the intellectual, and which I prefer to
do in company with another.”
(Teplitz, September 6, 1811, to Tiedge.)
195. “It was not intentional and premeditated malice which led me to act
toward you as I did; it was my unpardonable carelessness.”
(To Wegeler.)
196. “I am not bad; hot blood is my wickedness, my crime is
youthfulness. I am not bad, really not bad; even though wild surges
often accuse my heart, it still is good. To do good wherever we can, to
love liberty above all things, and never to deny truth though it be at
the throne itself.--Think occasionally of the friend who honors you.”
(Written in the autograph album of a Herr Bocke.)
197. “It is a singular sensation to see and hear one’s self praised, and
then to be conscious of one’s own imperfections as I am. I always regard
such occasions as admonitions to get nearer the unattainable goal set
for us by art and nature, hard as it may be.”
(To Mdlle. de Girardi, who had sung his praises in a poem.)
198. “It is my sincere desire that whatever shall be said of me
hereafter shall adhere strictly to the truth in every respect regardless
of who may be hurt thereby, me not excepted.”
(Reported by Schindler, who also relates that when Beethoven handed him
documents to be used in the biography a week before his death, he said
to him and Breuning: “But in all things severely the truth; for that I
hold you to a strict accountability.”)
199. “Now you can help me to find a wife. If you find a beautiful woman
in F. who, mayhap, endows my music with a sigh,--but she must be no
Elise Burger--make a provisional engagement. But she must be beautiful,
for I can love only the beautiful; otherwise I might love myself.”
(In 1809, to Baron von Gleichenstein. As for the personal reference it
seems likely that Beethoven referred to Elise Burger, second wife of
the poet G. August Burger, with whom he had got acquainted after she had
been divorced and become an elocutionist.)
200. “Am I not a true friend? Why do you conceal your necessities from
me? No friend of mine must suffer so long as I have anything.”
(To Ferdinand Ries, in 1801. Ries’s father had been kind to Beethoven on
the death of his mother in 1787.)
201. “I would rather forget what I owe to myself than what I owe to
others.”
(To Frau Streicher, in the summer of 1817.)
202. “I never practice revenge. When I must antagonize others I do no
more than is necessary to protect myself against them, or prevent them
from doing further evil.”
(To Frau Streicher, in reference to the troubles which his servants gave
him, many of which, no doubt, were due to faults of his own, excusable
in a man in his condition of health.)
203. “Be convinced that mankind, even in your case, will always be
sacred to me.”
(To Czapka, Magisterial Councillor, August, 1826, in the matter of his
nephew’s attempt at suicide.)
204. “H. is, and always will be, too weak for friendship, and I look
upon him and Y. as mere instruments upon which I play when I feel
like it; but they can never be witnesses of my internal and external
activities, and just as little real participants. I value them according
as they do me service.”
(Summer of 1800, to the friend of his youth, Pastor Amenda. H. was
probably the faithful Baron Zmeskall von Domanovecz.)
205. “If it amuses them to talk and write about me in that manner, let
them go on.”
(Reported by Schindler as referring to critics who had declared him ripe
for the madhouse.)
206. “To your gentlemen critics I recommend a little more foresight and
shrewdness, particularly in respect of the products of younger authors,
as many a one, who might otherwise make progress, may be frightened off.
So far as I am concerned I am far from thinking myself so perfect as not
to be able to endure faulting; yet at the beginning the clamor of your
critic was so debasing that I could scarcely discuss the matter when I
compared myself with others, but had to remain quiet and think: they do
not understand. I was the more able to remain quiet when I recalled how
men were praised who signify little among those who know, and who have
almost disappeared despite their good points. Well, pax vobiscum, peace
to them and me,--I would never have mentioned a syllable had you not
begun.”
(April 22, 1801, to Breitkopf and Hartel, publishers of the “Allgemeine
Musik Zeitung.”)
207. “Who was happier than I when I could still pronounce the sweet word
‘mother’ and have it heard? To whom can I speak it now?”
(September 15, 1787, from Bonn to Dr. Schade, of Augsburg, who had aided
him in his return journey from Vienna to Bonn. His mother had died on
July 17, 1787.)
208. “I seldom go anywhere since it was always impossible for me to
associate with people where there was not a certain exchange of ideas.”
(February 15, 1817, to Brentano of Frankfurt.)
209. “Not a word about rest! I know of none except in sleep, and sorry
enough am I that I am obliged to yield up more to it than formerly.”
(November 16, 1801, or 1802, to Wegeler. In Homer’s “Odyssey” Beethoven
thickly underscored the words: “Too much sleep is injurious.” XV, 393.)
210. “Rest assured that you are dealing with a true artist who likes to
be paid decently, it is true, but who loves his own reputation and also
the fame of his art; who is never satisfied with himself and who strives
continually to make even greater progress in his art.”
(November 23, 1809, to George Thomson, of Edinburgh, for whom Beethoven
arranged the Scotch songs.)
211. “My motto is always: nulla die sine linea; and if I permit the muse
to go to sleep it is only that she may awake strengthened.”
(October 7, 1826, to Wegeler.)
212. “There is no treatise likely to be too learned for me. Without
laying claim to real learning it is yet true that since my childhood I
have striven to learn the minds of the best and wisest of every period
of time. It is a disgrace for every artist who does not try to do as
much.”
(November 2, 1809, to Breitkopf and Hartel, of Leipzig.)
213. “Without wishing in the least to set myself up as an exemplar I
assure you that I lived in a small and insignificant place, and made out
of myself nearly all that I was there and am here;--this to your comfort
in case you feel the need of making progress in art.”
(Baden, July 6, 1804, to Herr Wiedebein, of Brunswick, who had asked
if it was advisable for a music teacher and student to make his home in
Vienna.)
214. “There is much on earth to be done,--do it soon! I must not
continue my present everyday life,--art asks this sacrifice also. Take
rest in diversion in order to work more energetically.”
(Diary, 1814.)