Ludwig van Beethoven Writing Quotations

Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.

I change many things, discard others, and try again and again until I am satisfied; then, in my head, I being to elaborate the work in its breadth, its narrowness, its height, its depth...I hear and see the image in front of me from every angle as if it had been cast and only the labour of writing it down remains.

I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.

I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.

I carry my thoughts about with me for a long time, often for a very long time, before writing them down.

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.