One must not hold one's self so divine as to be unwilling occasionally to make improvements in one's creations.

How glad I am to be able to roam in the wood and thicket, among trees and flowers and rocks ... in the country, every tree seems to speak to me, saying, "Holy! Holy", in the woods, there is enchantment which expresses all things.

I carry my thoughts about with me for a long time... before writing them down... once I have grasped a theme. I shall not forget it even years later. I change many things, discard others, and try again and again until I am satisfied; then, in my head... [the work] rises, it grows, I hear and see the image n front of me from every angle... and only the labor of writing it down remains... I turn my ideas into tones that resound, roar, and rage until at last they stand before me in the form of notes.

There are and always will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven!

What is to reach the heart must come from above; if it does not come from thence, it will be nothing but notes, body without spirit.

I shall hear in heaven.

Love demands all, and has a right to all.