ome in
Vienna.)

214. "There is much on earth to be done,--do it soon! I must not
continue my present everyday life,--art asks this sacrifice also. Take
rest in diversion in order to work more energetically."

(Diary, 1814.)

215. "The daily grind exhausts me."

(Baden, August 23, 1823, to his nephew Karl.)

THE SUFFERER

216. "Compelled to be a philosopher as early as my 28th year;--it is not
an easy matter,--more difficult for the artist than any other man."

(October 6, 1802; the Heiligenstadt Will.)

217. "Compelled to contemplate a lasting malady, born with an ardent
and lively temperament, susceptible to the diversions of society, I was
obliged at an early date to isolate myself and live a life of solitude."

(From the same.)

218. "It was impossible for me to say to others: speak louder; shout!
for I am deaf. Ah! was it possible for me to proclaim a deficiency in
that one sense which in my case ought to have been more perfect than
in all others, which I had once possessed in greatest perfection, to
a degree of perfection, indeed, which few of my profession have ever
enjoyed?"

(From the same.)

219. "For me there can be no recreation in human society, refined
conversation, mutual exchange of thoughts and feelings; only so far as
necessity compels may I give myself to society,--I must live like an
exile."

(From the same.)

220. "How great was the humiliation when one who stood beside me heard
the distant sound of a shepherd's pipe, and I heard nothing; or heard
the shepherd singing, and I heard nothing. Such experiences brought me
to the verge of despair;--but little more and I should have put an end
to my life. Art, art alone deterred me."

(From the same.)

221. "I may say that I live a wretched existence. For almost two years
I have avoided all social gatherings because it is impossible for me to
tell the people I am deaf. If my vocation were anything else it might be
more endurable, but under the circumstances the condition is terrible;
besides what would my enemies say,--they are not few in number! To
give you an idea of this singular deafness let me tell you that in the
theatre I must lean over close to the orchestra in order to understand
the actor; if I am a little remote from them I do not hear the high
tones of instruments and voices; it is remarkable that there are persons
who have not observed it, but becaus