alled how
men were praised who signify little among those who know, and who have
almost disappeared despite their good points. Well, pax vobiscum, peace
to them and me,--I would never have mentioned a syllable had you not
begun."

(April 22, 1801, to Breitkopf and Hartel, publishers of the "Allgemeine
Musik Zeitung.")

207. "Who was happier than I when I could still pronounce the sweet word
'mother' and have it heard? To whom can I speak it now?"

(September 15, 1787, from Bonn to Dr. Schade, of Augsburg, who had aided
him in his return journey from Vienna to Bonn. His mother had died on
July 17, 1787.)

208. "I seldom go anywhere since it was always impossible for me to
associate with people where there was not a certain exchange of ideas."

(February 15, 1817, to Brentano of Frankfurt.)

209. "Not a word about rest! I know of none except in sleep, and sorry
enough am I that I am obliged to yield up more to it than formerly."

(November 16, 1801, or 1802, to Wegeler. In Homer's "Odyssey" Beethoven
thickly underscored the words: "Too much sleep is injurious." XV, 393.)

210. "Rest assured that you are dealing with a true artist who likes to
be paid decently, it is true, but who loves his own reputation and also
the fame of his art; who is never satisfied with himself and who strives
continually to make even greater progress in his art."

(November 23, 1809, to George Thomson, of Edinburgh, for whom Beethoven
arranged the Scotch songs.)

211. "My motto is always: nulla die sine linea; and if I permit the muse
to go to sleep it is only that she may awake strengthened."

(October 7, 1826, to Wegeler.)

212. "There is no treatise likely to be too learned for me. Without
laying claim to real learning it is yet true that since my childhood I
have striven to learn the minds of the best and wisest of every period
of time. It is a disgrace for every artist who does not try to do as
much."

(November 2, 1809, to Breitkopf and Hartel, of Leipzig.)

213. "Without wishing in the least to set myself up as an exemplar I
assure you that I lived in a small and insignificant place, and made out
of myself nearly all that I was there and am here;--this to your comfort
in case you feel the need of making progress in art."

(Baden, July 6, 1804, to Herr Wiedebein, of Brunswick, who had asked
if it was advisable for a music teacher and student to make his h