Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words

by Ludwig van Beethoven

(October 6, 1802, to his brothers Karl and Johann [the so-called
Heiligenstadt Will].)

151. “I know no more sacred duty than to rear and educate a child.”

(January 7, 1820, in a communication to the Court of Appeals in the suit
touching the guardianship of his nephew Karl.)

152. “Nature’s weaknesses are nature’s endowments; reason, the guide, must seek to lead and lessen them.”

(Diary, 1817.)

153. “It is man’s habit to hold his fellow man in esteem because he committed no greater errors.”

(May 6, 1811, to Breitkopf and Hartel, in a letter complaining of faulty
printing in some of his compositions.)

154. “There is nothing more efficient in enforcing obedience upon others than the belief on their part that you are wiser than they...Without tears fathers can not inculcate virtue in their children, or teachers learning and wisdom in their pupils; even the laws, by compelling tears from the citizens, compel them also to strive for justice.”

(Diary, 1815.)

155. “It is only becoming in a youth to combine his duties toward education and advancement with those which he owes to his benefactor and supporter; this I did toward my parents.”