I Am Never Happier Than When I

Music Must Never Offend The Ear, But Must Please The Listener, Or, In Other Words, Must Never Cease To Be Music.

If Germany, My Beloved Fatherland, Of Whom You Know I Am Proud, Will Not Accept Me, Then Must I, In The Name Of God, Again Make France Or England Richer By One Capable German - And To The Shame Of The German Nation.

When I Am At Peace With Myself . . . Then Thoughts Flow Into Me Most Easily And At Their Best. Where They Come From And How - That I Cannot Say . . . I'd Be Willing To Work Forever And Forever If I Were Permitted To Write Only Such Music As I Want To Write And Can Write - Which I Myself Think Good.

My Fatherland Has Always The First Claim On Me.

For I Assure You, Without Travel, At Least For People From The Arts And Sciences, One Is A Miserable Creature!... A Man Of Mediocre Talents Always Remains Mediocre, May He Travel Or Not - But A Man Of Superior Talents, Which I Cannot Deny Myself To Have Without Being Blasphemous, Becomes - Bad, If He Always Stays In The Same Place.