Great Throughts Treasury

"Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes."

"True art is imperishable and the true artist finds profound delight in grand productions of genius."

"Truly, a divine spark dwells in Schubert!"

"True friendship can rest only on the union of like natures."

"Truth exists for the wise; beauty for the susceptible heart. They belong together?are complementary."

"Today is Sunday. Shall I read something for you from the Gospels? 'Love ye one another!'"

"Truly, a hard lot has befallen me! Yet I accept the decree of Fate, and continually pray to God to grant that as long as I must endure this death in life, I may be preserved from want."

"We Germans have too few dramatically trained singers for the part of Leonore. They are too cold and unfeeling; the Italians sing and act with body and soul."

"Vice walks through paths full of present lusts and persuades many to follow it. Virtue pursues a steep path and is less seductive to mankind, especially if at another place there are persons who call them to a gently declining road."

"We finite ones with infinite souls are born only for sorrows and joy and it might almost be said that the best of us receive joy through sorrow."

"Were it not that my income brings in nothing, I should compose nothing but grand symphonies, church music, or, at the outside, quartets in addition."

"What is all this compared with the great Tonemaster above! above! above! and righteously the Most High, whereas here below all is mockery,?dwarfs,?and yet Most High!!"

"What greater gift can man receive than fame, praise and immortality?"

"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. [Beethoven speaking to royalty]"

"When friends get into a quarrel it is always best not to call in an intermediary, but to have friend turn to friend direct."

"What will be the judgment a century hence concerning the lauded 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 toward the goal which can never be attained, develop to the last breath the gifts with which a gracious Creator has endowed him, and never cease to learn; for 'Life is short, art eternal!'"

"When I open my eyes, a sigh involuntarily escapes me, for all that I see runs counter to my religion; perforce I despise the world which does not intuitively feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy."

"When two persons like Goethe and I meet these grand folk must be made to see what our sort consider great."

"When you reach the old ruins, think that Beethoven often paused there; if you wander through the mysterious fir forests, think that. Beethoven often poetized, or, as is said, composed there."

"When the gentlemen can think of nothing new, and can go no further, they quickly call in a diminished seventh chord to help them out of the predicament."

"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?"

"When you write to Goethe about me search out all the words which can express my deepest reverence and admiration. I am myself about to write to him about 'Egmont' for which I have composed the music, purely out of love for his poems which make me happy."

"Whoever studies Clementi thoroughly has simultaneously also learned Mozart and other authors; inversely, however, this is not the case."

"Who can sufficiently thank a great poet,?the most valuable jewel of a nation!"

"Whoever tells a lie is not pure of heart, and such a person cannot cook a clean soup."

"Why so many dishes? Man is certainly very little higher than the other animals if his chief delights are those of the table."

"Why do you sell nothing but music? Why did you not long ago follow my well-meant advice? Do get wise, and find your raison. Instead of a hundred-weight of paper order genuine unwatered Regensburger, float this much-liked article of trade down the Danube, serve it in measures, half-measures and seidels at cheap prices, throw in at intervals sausages, rolls, radishes, butter and cheese, invite the hungry and thirsty with letters an ell long on a sign: 'Musical Beer House,' and you will have so many guests at all hours of the day that one will hold the door open for the other and your office will never be empty."

"With joy shall I hasten forward to meet death; if he comes before I shall have had an opportunity to develop all my artistic capabilities, he will come too early in spite of my harsh fate, and I shall probably wish him to come at a later date. But even then I shall be content, for will he not release me from endless suffering? Come when you please, I shall meet you bravely."

"With tranquility, O God, will I submit myself to changes, and place all my trust in Thy unalterable mercy and goodness."

"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."

"With respect to his playing with you, when he has acquired the proper mode of fingering and plays in time and plays the notes with tolerable correctness, only then direct his attention to the matter of interpretation; and when he has gotten this far do not stop him for little mistakes, but point them out at the end of the piece. Although I have myself given very little instruction I have always followed this method which quickly makes musicians, and that, after all, is one of the first objects of art."

"X. is completely changed since I threw half a dozen books at her head. Perhaps something of their contents accidentally got into her head or her wicked heart."

"Wrapped in the shadows of eternal solitude, in the impenetrable darkness of the thicket, impenetrable, immeasurable, unapproachable, formlessly extended. Before spirit was breathed (into things) his spirit was, and his only. As mortal eyes (to compare finite and infinite things) look into a shining mirror."

"You - my life - my All - farewell. Oh, go on loving me - never doubt the faithfullest heart of your beloved. Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours."

"Yes, yes, then they are amazed and put their heads together because they never found it in any book on thorough bass."

"You are happy; it is my wish that you remain so, for every man is best placed in his sphere."

"You are living on a quiet sea, or already in the safe harbor; you do not feel the distress of a friend out in the raging storm,?or you must not feel it."

"You cannot 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."

"You know that the sensitive spirit must not be bound to miserable necessities."

"You will 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; early in the morning; incited by moods, which are translated by the poet into words, by me into tones that sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes."

"You must not be a man like other men: not for yourself, only for others; for you there is no more happiness except in yourself, in your art.?O God, give me strength to overcome myself, nothing must hold me to this life."

"You yourself know what a change is wrought by a few years in the case of an artist who is continually pushing forward. The greater the progress which one makes in art, the less is one satisfied with one's old works."

"You write that somebody has said that I am the natural son of the late King of Prussia. The same thing was said to me long ago, but I have made it a rule never to write anything about myself or answer anything that is said about me."

"You will have to play a long time yet before you realize that you cannot play at 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."

"You are suffering, you, my most precious one--I have noticed the very moment that letters have to be handed in very early, on Monday--or on Thursday--the only days when the mail coach goes from here to K[arlsbad].--You are suffering--Oh, where I am, you are with me--I will see to it that you and I, that I can live with you. What a life!!!! as it is now!!!! without you--pursued by the kindness of people here and there, a kindness that I think-that I wish to deserve just as little as I deserve it--man's homage to man--that pains me--and when I consider myself in the setting of the universe, what I am and what is the man--whom one calls the greatest of me--and yet--on the other hand therein lies the divine element in man==I weep when I think that probably you will not receive the first news of me until Saturday--However much you love me--good night--Since I am taking the baths I must get off to sleep--Dear God--so near! so far! Is not our love truly founded in heaven--and, what is more, as strongly cemented as the firmament of Heaven?--"

"Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men. At my age I need a certain uniformity and equableness of life; can such exist in our relationship?"

"Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men"

"Your variations show talent, but I must fault you for having changed the theme. Why? What man loves must not be taken away from him;?moreover to do this is to make changes before variations."