"I must confess that I live a miserable life. For almost two years I have ceased to attend any social functions, just because I find it impossible to say to people: I am deaf."
— Ludwig van Beethoven
I Must Confess That I Live
I must confess that I live a miserable life. For almost two years I have ceased to attend any social functions, just because I find it impossible to say to people: I am deaf.
About this quote
The Heiligenstadt Testament is a private letter addressed to Beethoven's brothers, written on 6 October 1802 in the village of Heiligenstadt near Vienna, where his doctor had sent him to rest. He had kept his deafness secret for six years; the letter was never sent and was found only among his papers after his death in 1827. Despite its despair — at one point he confesses he nearly took his own life — the Testament marks a turning point: shortly after writing it, he began the Eroica Symphony, opening his most creative decade.
Source
Heiligenstadt Testament, October 6, 1802
