Self-image

"mein Vaterland die schöne gegend, in der ich das Licht der Welt erblickte, ist mir noch immer so schön und deutlich vor meinen Augen, als da ich euch verließ, kurz ich werde diese Zeit als eine der glüklichsten Begebenheiten meines Lebens betrachten, wo ich euch wieder sehen und unsern Vater Rhein begrüßen kann."
‘my fatherland, the beautiful region in which I saw the light of day, is still as beautiful and clear before my eyes as when I left you; in short, I will regard this time as one of the happiest events of my life, when I can see you again and greet our father Rhine.’
Beethoven to Franz Gerhard Wegeler in Bonn, Vienna, 29 June 1801 (BGA 65).   
Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Wegeler Collection, W 17

"Fürst, was Sie sind, sind Sie durch Zufall und Geburt, was ich bin, bin ich durch mich; Fürsten hat es und wird es noch Tausende geben; Beethoven gibt's nur einen ec."
‘Prince, what you are, you are by chance and birth, what I am, I am by myself; there have been and will be thousands of princes; there is only one Beethoven.’
Beethoven to Prince Karl Lichnowsky, Grätz, end of October 1806 (BGA 258). 
Original not known; text after Franz Xaver Boch, Aus Beethoven's Leben, in: Wiener Deutsche Zeitung, Morgenblatt, of 31 August 1873 

"ich kenne keine andern Vorzüge des Menschen, als diejenigen, welche ihn zu den besseren Menschen zählen machen; wo ich diese finde, dort ist meine Heimath."
'I know no other virtues of man than those which make him a better man; where I find these, there is my home.'
Beethoven to Emilie M. in Hamburg, Töplitz, 17 July 1812 (BGA 585).  
Original not known; text after the first printing: Thayer III, p. 205, where the source is: ‘Mitgetheilt von Herrn Matthias Sirk aus Gratz in Steiermark’. ('Communicated by Mr Matthias Sirk from Gratz in Styria'). 

"denn ich vergesse lieber, was ich mir schuldig als was ich andern schuldig bin"
'because I'd rather forget what I owe myself than what I owe others'
Beethoven to Nannette Streicher, Nußdorf, after 7 July 1817  
(BGA 1139).  
Original not known; text after TDR IV, p. 494 (letter no. 22)    

"Es fällt etwas Schwer ihn zu enträthseln, ich versichere Sie auf meine Ehre, welche mir nächst Gott das Höchste ist, daß ich Stein. nie aufgefordert, Bestellungen für mich anzunehmen,"
'It is somewhat difficult to disentangle him, I assure you on my honour, which is the highest thing next to God, that I have never asked Stein to accept orders for me.'
Beethoven to Carl Friedrich Peters in Leipzig, Vienna, 26 June 1822
(BGA 1473).  
Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Collection H.C. Bodmer, HCB BBr 37

"Wäre ich nur in London, was wollte ich für die philharmonische Gesellschaft Alles schreiben! Denn Beethoven kann schreiben, Gott sei Dank, sonst freilich nichts in der Welt."
‘If only I were in London, what I would want to write for the Philharmonic Society! For Beethoven can write, thank God, but nothing else in the world.’
Beethoven to Ferdinand Ries in London (fragment), Vienna, 20 December 1822 (BGA 1517).
Original not known; text after the first printing in Wegeler/Ries p. 154, incomplete.

Anton Schindler reports: 'On New Year's Day 1823, Beethoven, his nephew and I were sitting at the lunch table when the master received a New Year's card from his brother, who lived in the neighbouring house, signed: ‘Johann van Beethoven - landowner’. Beethoven immediately wrote on it backwards: ‘Ludwig van Beethoven - brain owner’, and immediately sent it back to the landowner.'
Attributed. The authenticity of this statement may be questioned, as it was penned by Anton Schindler, an early Beethoven biographer. Schindler knew Beethoven in the last years of his life and tried to profit from the master's fame by claiming to be the only authentic reporter on Beethoven's life and even testifying to events that he could not possibly have witnessed.
Schindler, Anton: Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven: with a portrait of Beethoven and two facsimiles, first edition, Münster: Aschendorff, 1840, p. 121

"u. es wird nie bey mir heißen: Veritas odium parit."
'and it will never be said with me: Veritas odium parit.'
Beethoven to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Weimar, Vienna, 8 February 1823 (BGA 1562). The translation reads: 'Truth generates hatred', after Terence, Andria, I.i.41 ('obsequium amicos veritas odium parit').
Weimar, Goethe and Schiller Archive, GSA 33/54

“Nun soll ich,' sagte Beethoven, ‘täglich um halb 4 Uhr zu Hause sein, mich etwas besser anziehen, für den Bart sorgen u. s. w. – Das halt’ ich nicht aus!”
'Now,' said Beethoven, ‘I'm supposed to be home every day at half past three, dress a little better, take care of my beard, etc. - I can't stand it!'
Attributed. Wegeler reports this alleged statement by Beethoven, which refers to a lunch that was to take place at 4.00 pm.Wegeler, Franz Gerhard; Ries, Ferdinand: Biographische Notizen über Ludwig van Beethoven, Nachtrag zu den biographischen Notizen über Ludwig van Beethoven, published by the Ferdinand Ries-Gesellschaft ... [reprint of the Koblenz 1838 and 1845 editions], Bonn, 2012, p. 33

"Von Schauspielern äußerte er einmal: daß dies Leben, dies Rollenspielen im Leben, ihm nicht zusage oder gefalle."
'He once said of actors that this life, this role-playing in life, did not suit or please him.'
Attributed. Fanny Giannattasio writes about this alleged statement by Beethoven in her diary.
Giannattasio del Rio, Fanny: Aus Beethovens spätern Lebensjahren: 1. Mittheilungen aus einem Tagebuch, 1857, in: Die Grenzboten, 16 (1857), 1st semester, 2nd volume, p. 28

"Einmal sagte er uns: er sei mit Sprüchwörtern erzogen worden"
'He once told us that he had been brought up with slogans'  
Attributed. Fanny Giannattasio writes about this alleged statement by Beethoven in her diary.
Giannattasio del Rio, Fanny: Aus Beethovens spätern Lebensjahren: 1. Mittheilungen aus einem Tagebuch, 1857, in: Die Grenzboten, 16 (1857), 1st semester, 2nd volume, p. 28

"Ich lege viel zu wenig Werth auf mich, um es zu sein!"
'I value myself far too little to be one!'
Attributed. Allegedly in response to the question as to whether he was still angry.Giannattasio del Rio, Fanny: Aus Beethovens spätern Lebensjahren: 1. Mittheilungen aus einem Tagebuch, 1857, in: Die Grenzboten, 16 (1857), 1st semester, 2nd volume, p. 28

"Jede art gebundenes Verhältniß beim Menschen, so sagte er, sei ihm unangenehm."
'Any kind of bound relationship in humans, he said, was unpleasant to him.'
Attributed. Fanny Giannattasio writes about this alleged statement by Beethoven in her diary.
Giannattasio del Rio, Fanny: Aus Beethovens spätern Lebensjahren: 1. Mittheilungen aus einem Tagebuch, 1857, in: Die Grenzboten, 16 (1857), 1st semester, 2nd volume, p. 28 f.