11.25.2008

deafness


"oh, you men who consider or describe me as quarrelsome, peevish or misanthropic, how greatly you wrong me. you do not know the secret reason. forced to accept the prospect of a permanent infirmity, i soon had to cut myself off and live in solitude. for me there can be no relaxation in human society, conversations and mutual confidences. i must live like an outcast. in company i am overcome by acute anxiety, for fear i am in danger of revealing my condition. what a humiliation when someone standing beside me heard a flute from afar while i heard nothing! such experiences have brought me close to despair and i came near to ending my own life—only my art held me back, as it seemed to me impossible to leave this world until i have produced everything i feel it has been granted to me to achieve. i go toward death joyfully; would it not release me from a condition of endless suffering?"
~beethoven

9 comments:

shilvia said...

this image is excellent!!!

Anonymous said...

beautiful!

AshleyL. said...

WOW! Your comments left me so happy! I don't sell my photography (as of right now... though I have considered). But YES! Feel free to use any of my stuff! Thank you for being such a wonderful reader! Your encouragement means a lot to me! Your blog is also quite wonderful and inspiring! :)

ELK said...

what feelings from his words!

Caroline Pond said...

great blog with fantastic pics. cheers

Leacayoungart said...

beautiful image.

Unknown said...

how often we as human find ourselves here... and then the art within pulls us back. don't let go of that song in your heart. it will soon be a symphony... x

Unknown said...

Such a beautiful image and the Beethoven quote just pulls me in. I just saw the movie Beethoven's Copyist the other night and it touched me so more than I expected--thanks for stopping by my blog. Yours is wonderful!

georgia b. said...

thank you for the comments and telling about this movie, Mary Jo. i love movies about composers. i have never seen this one or even heard of it. i plan to check it out! thank you for stopping by.