Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?

Ludwig van Beethoven · Quoted by Bettina von Arnim in a letter to Goethe, Letter to Bettina von Arnim [August 11, 1810]

I want to seize fate by the throat.

Ludwig van Beethoven · Letter to Dr. Franz Wegeler [November 16, 1801]

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.

Ludwig van Beethoven · Conversations [March 1820]

My angel, my all, my very self.

Ludwig van Beethoven · The opening of the letter to the "Immortal Beloved," written over 6 and 7 July 1812 and found in his desk after he died; whom he wrote it to has never been settled.

More Art Quotes

Satire is what closes Saturday night.

George S. Kaufman

Is there not a certain satisfaction in the fact that natural limits are set to the life of the individual, so that at its conclusion it may appear as a work of art?

Albert Einstein · From a tribute to Paul Langevin, 1947.

No, I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.

James McNeill Whistler · The source reads: “[In answer to the question 'For two days' labour, you ask two hundred guineas?'] No, I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.”

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“Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?”

“I want to seize fate by the throat.”

“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.”

“My angel, my all, my very self.”

“Satire is what closes Saturday night.”

“Is there not a certain satisfaction in the fact that natural limits are set to the life of the individual, so that at its conclusion it may appear as a work of art?”

“No, I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.”