The 32 best quotes by Ludwig van Beethoven about music and life.

These are the most famous quotes of the German musician and composer.

When we talk about musical geniuses, it is likely that one of the first names that comes to mind is that of the great Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827).

Born in Bonn, Germany, he is considered one of the most influential classical musicians with an extensive work as composer, conductor and pianist.

Famous quotes by Beethoven

Essential musician of Romanticism, Beethoven made the music lovers of his time vibrate with his symphonies.

In the final stages of his career, he lost his ear and transcended in popular culture that he composed one of his most famous works, the Ninth Symphony, guided only by his instinct, but he was never able to listen to his musical composition.

In today's article we are going to know the best phrases of Beethoven, as well as his famous quotes that have come down to us through the centuries.

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1. Genius is composed of two percent talent and ninety-eight percent persevering application.

It is not only necessary to have a good inspiration, but to put it into action with perseverance.

2. Act instead of pleading. Sacrifice yourself without hope of glory or reward! If you want to know miracles, do them first. Only then can your peculiar destiny be fulfilled.

Another phrase from Beethoven that stimulates us to strive every day to the best of our ability.

3. The barriers that say to the genius: "You shall not pass from here" have not yet been erected.

Nothing is more indestructible than the creative mind of a genius.

4. Do whatever it takes to achieve your most ardent desire, and you will end up achieving it.

A motivational phrase like few others that exhorts us to go all the way in every purpose we have.

5. Make other men happy: there is nothing better or more beautiful.

About his greatest reward: the recognition of the public.

6. Never break silence except to improve it.

A curious famous quote coming from a genius of sound like Beethoven.

7. There are times when it seems to me that language is still absolutely useless.

Human communication is sometimes so complex...

8. Music should bring Blood from the heart of man, and tears from the eyes of woman.

A somewhat sexist phrase of Beethoven about the emotions that music should arouse according to the sex of the spectator.

9. A kind word does nothing to lose.

Good manners are always rewarded.

10. Architecture is a music of stones and music, an architecture of sounds.

A curious parallelism that explains his vision of these two artistic disciplines.

11. I will seize destiny by the neck. It will not dominate me.

A proof of his tremendous vitality.

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

A life teaching of the German genius.

13. Let us consider difficulties as stepping stones to a better life.

Another reflection in an optimistic and vital tone.

14. The only symbol of superiority I know is kindness.

A paradox that reveals the goodness in your personal relationships.

15. May friendship, together with goodness, grow like the shadow of night until the sun of life goes out.

One of those phrases of friendship that can help us to reconcile ourselves with the world.

16. Resignation, what a sad word! And yet it is the only refuge left.

A famous quote from Beethoven, which he uttered when he could no longer hear his own melodies.

17. You are a prince by chance, by birth; as for me, I am by myself. There are thousands of princes and there will be, but there is only one Beethoven.

A token of hubris for some; of defiance of the status quo for others.

18. Do not confide your secret even to the most intimate friend; you could not ask him for discretion if you yourself have not had it.

Certainly, if we are not capable of keeping discretion, it will be difficult for others to do it for us.

19. Music constitutes a higher revelation than any philosophy.

His concept of musical art, at the top of the pyramid.

20. Friends are not only united when they are next to each other; even the one who is far away is still present in our thoughts.

A nice phrase to reflect on friendship, even when there is distance in between.

21. For you, poor Beethoven, there is no happiness in the world, you have to create it in yourself. Only in the regions of the ideal can you find friends.

In a letter to Gleichestein, Beethoven expressed his feelings in this way.

22. Divine Creator, you who can look into the depths of my soul, you know that there lives love for man and the desire to do good.

A thought addressed to God.

23. Everyone who works righteously and nobly can, for this very reason, endure misfortune.

A life governed by ethics is always happier than opulence achieved through moral misery.

24. It is the same rain that makes brambles and thorns grow in uncultivated land, and flowers in gardens.

A very clarifying metaphor, which can be applied, for example, to the world of education.

25. I cannot and will not associate with men who do not believe in me.

On trust and how any possibility of business should be based on it.

26. It is curious to see how as theoretical freedoms increase, practical freedoms decrease.

A pessimistic reflection on the political and regulatory changes of his time.

27. With whom should I fear to measure my strength?

Another phrase of Beethoven in a grandiloquent tone.

28. Rossini would have been a great composer if his music teacher had given him a good spanking on the backside.

A biting remark to another composer of the time.

29. Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.

On himself, in a show of humility.

30. Those who think or say that I am malevolent, obstinate or misanthropic, how much they are mistaken about me.

Another phrase of Ludwig van Beethoven reflecting on his public image.

31. He is an ignoble man who does not know how to die. I have known him since I was fifteen years old.

A reflection on dignity, especially in the last stages of life.

32. But how is it possible to play for such spoiled children?

About his unwillingness to play music for people who were not to his liking.