"Oh you people who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the secret cause which makes me seem so to you. From childhood on, my heart …"

"There are and will be thousands of princes; there is only one Beethoven."

"I wish you health, and hope that you will soon be able to do something for art, so that I may be able to see you again. Farewell, I wish you well."

"I am not accustomed to being contradicted."

"The metronome is a useless invention."