Quote #31

What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and always will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven.

More from Ludwig van Beethoven

  1. To sing a wrong note is insignificant, but to sing without passion is unforgivable.
  2. My music is music about music.
  3. Thus Fate knocks the door.
  4. We mortals with immortal minds are only born for sufferings and joys, and one could almost say that the most excellent receive joy through …
  5. This [pointing to his head] and this [pointing to his heart] is my nobility.
  6. There lies somehing revolutionary in the music.
  7. The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, 'Thus far and no farther.'
  8. Recommend virtue to your children; it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience.

All Ludwig van Beethoven quotes