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.

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.

To play without passion is inexcusable!

It seemed unthinkable for me to leave the world forever before I had produced all that I felt called upon to produce

The world is a king, and like a king, desires flattery in return for favor; but true art is selfish and perverse — it will not submit to the mold of flattery.

He that divines the secret of my music is freed from the unhappiness that haunts the whole world of men.

I shall hear in heaven.