--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A lot of people don't know that…" description: "\"A lot of people don't know that Beethoven, when he wrote the Fifth Symphony, that second movement, he took eight years to figure that out!\" — Wayne Sho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/wayne-shorter-15146_beethoven_a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethove_2590244.jpg" --- # A lot of people don't know that Beethoven, when he wrote… ![“A lot of people don't know that Beethoven, when he wrote the Fifth Symphony, that second movement, he took eight years to figure that out!” quote by Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/wayne-shorter-15146_beethoven_a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethove_2590244.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/wayne-shorter-15146_beethoven_a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethove_2590244.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/wayne-shorter-15146_beethoven_a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethove_2590244.jpg) > “A lot of people don't know that Beethoven, when he wrote the Fifth Symphony, that second movement, he took eight years to figure that out!” [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beethoven spent eight years perfecting the second movement, showing that even masterpieces require patience and revision. **In simple terms:** Great works often need long, careful development. Key Takeaway Embrace patience in creative pursuits. Themes creativity patience mastery Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - composing music - writing a novel - designing a product - learning a skill Key Concepts Artistic process revision perseverance Questions to Reflect On - What project could benefit from a longer development period? - How do you balance urgency with thoroughness? A Different Perspective Even after years, new insights can emerge, challenging the notion of instant brilliance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/beethoven-s-fifth-symphony-is-the-most-sublime-noise-that-has-ever/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [My husband's family was terribly refined. Within their circle you could know Beethoven, but God forbid if you were Beethoven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-berliawsky-nevelson/my-husband-s-family-was-terribly-refined-within-their-circle-you/) [Louise Berliawsky Nevelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-berliawsky-nevelson/) > [“Nowadays, people no longer know Beethoven's Ninth from concerts, but form the for lines of the 'Ode to Joy' that they hear every day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/nowadays-people-no-longer-know-beethoven-s-ninth-from-concerts-but/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Beethoven wrote Für Elise around 1810, though Elise was actually supposed to be Therese, a woman he was to marry in the same year.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kubica/beethoven-wrote-f-r-elise-around-1810-though-elise-was-actually/) [Mary Kubica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kubica/) > [“Even though Beethoven wrote this song when he was depressed about his hearing and was sleeping around with girls, it sounds like a happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomoko-ninomiya/even-though-beethoven-wrote-this-song-when-he-was-depressed-about-his/) Tomoko Ninomiya > [“It was Haydn and Mozart who really cracked the sonata, but it was Beethoven who reinvented it, just as he reinvented the symphony. Bach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-joyce/it-was-haydn-and-mozart-who-really-cracked-the-sonata-but-it-was/) [Rachel Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-joyce/) > [Beethoven wrote in three flats a lot. That's because he moved twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/beethoven-wrote-in-three-flats-a-lot-that-s-because-he-moved-twice/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) > [“During the Second World War, the British Broadcasting Corporation prefaced some radio broadcasts with the beginning of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony — BAH, BAH, BAH,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/during-the-second-world-war-the-british-broadcasting-corporation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everybody is different. Some writers can write reams of great books and then J. D. Salinger wrote just a few. Beethoven wrote nine symphonies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/everybody-is-different-some-writers-can-write-reams-of-great-books/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [My parents once caught me conducting Beethoven's 'Fifth Symphony.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-hayes/my-parents-once-caught-me-conducting-beethoven-s-fifth-symphony/) [Walker Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-hayes/) > [“Cher and share alike. At least in sound. Most of the decisions I make are sound, exactly like Beethoven when he wrote and discarded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/cher-and-share-alike-at-least-in-sound-most-of-the-decisions-i-make/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“So here we are. The two of us. Me and this geezer I gotta kill. Sittin here in a car showroom office, lookin at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-ayris/so-here-we-are-the-two-of-us-me-and-this-geezer-i-gotta-kill-sittin/) Ian Ayris > [“It will be generally admitted that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/it-will-be-generally-admitted-that-beethoven-s-fifth-symphony-is-the/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [For an instant God opens his door and His orchestra plays the Fifth Symphony,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-sibelius/for-an-instant-god-opens-his-door-and-his-orchestra-plays-the-fifth/) [Jean Sibelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-sibelius/) > [Listening to the Fifth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams is like staring at a cow for 45 minutes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-copland/listening-to-the-fifth-symphony-of-ralph-vaughan-williams-is-like/) [Aaron Copland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-copland/) ## More by Wayne Shorter > [The arts can open the door to the imagination, pushing the envelope of how peace can be created. It takes courage to take this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/the-arts-can-open-the-door-to-the-imagination-pushing-the-envelope-of/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [It’s making a statement about what life is, really. And I’m going to end the line with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/it-s-making-a-statement-about-what-life-is-really-and-i-m-going-to/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [There's a certain road in life most people walk on, because it's familiar, and they can jostle to get in front place. I prefer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/there-s-a-certain-road-in-life-most-people-walk-on-because-it-s/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [I'm learning more about life when I'm playing too, and writing music. I'm learning more about life, the connection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/i-m-learning-more-about-life-when-i-m-playing-too-and-writing-music-i/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [Music is just sound - what's more important to me is behavior. I'm watching these play-offs - basketball - it's interesting to watch behavior,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/music-is-just-sound-what-s-more-important-to-me-is-behavior-i-m/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [I always say that music is a small drop in the ocean of life. I was told a long time ago that your horn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/i-always-say-that-music-is-a-small-drop-in-the-ocean-of-life-i-was/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [It's up to the person who's being creative to find ways to emerge and shake up the world of wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/it-s-up-to-the-person-who-s-being-creative-to-find-ways-to-emerge-and/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [There's a steady forward march of a creative process that some of us stay with and don't give up - that should be an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/there-s-a-steady-forward-march-of-a-creative-process-that-some-of-us/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [If all you have is music, then you don't have music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/if-all-you-have-is-music-then-you-don-t-have-music/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [Music is interior decoration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/music-is-interior-decoration/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [Jazz shouldn't have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that's required to sound like jazz. For me, the word 'jazz' means,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/jazz-shouldn-t-have-any-mandates-jazz-is-not-supposed-to-be-something/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [To me, the definition of faith is to fear nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/to-me-the-definition-of-faith-is-to-fear-nothing/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [When John Coltrane passed, we were in the church for the memorial. Albert Ayler came walking in playing, real out there. He was actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/when-john-coltrane-passed-we-were-in-the-church-for-the-memorial/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [I think that music opens portals and doorways into unknown sectors that it takes courage to leap into. I always think that there's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/i-think-that-music-opens-portals-and-doorways-into-unknown-sectors/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [I'm trying to do music which inspires the desire to transcend politics, which has a limited and selfish and egoist and unknowledgable end about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/i-m-trying-to-do-music-which-inspires-the-desire-to-transcend/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) [Explore all 44 Wayne Shorter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) ## More Beethoven quotes > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I believe so, but at first he must know. He must know in which spirit Beethoven has composed this piece. He must try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-masur/i-believe-so-but-at-first-he-must-know-he-must-know-in-which-spirit/) [Kurt Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-masur/) > [And now, in honour of the 150th anniversary of Beethoven's death, I would like to play 'Clear the Saloon', er, 'Clair de Lune', by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/and-now-in-honour-of-the-150th-anniversary-of-beethoven-s-death-i/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) > [“That Beethoven was capable of producing the ultimate musical definition of heroism in this context is itself extraordinary, for he was able to evoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-solomon/that-beethoven-was-capable-of-producing-the-ultimate-musical/) Maynard Solomon > [“He had said it bravely, and that is why one can trust Beethoven when he says other things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-had-said-it-bravely-and-that-is-why-one-can-trust-beethoven-when/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mcclary/the-point-of-recapitulation-in-the-first-movement-of-beethoven-s/) [Susan McClary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mcclary/) > [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-shall-never-forget-juliek-how-could-i-forget-this-concert-given/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“Did Beethoven create his symphonies for his glorification? I don't believe it. I believe he created them because the music in his soul demanded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/did-beethoven-create-his-symphonies-for-his-glorification-i-don-t/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“On behalf of all that is good and melodic, Ludwig van Beethoven, I apologize.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-strohmeyer/on-behalf-of-all-that-is-good-and-melodic-ludwig-van-beethoven-i/) [Sarah Strohmeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-strohmeyer/) > [Beethoven can't really be great because his picture isn't on a bubble gum card.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/beethoven-can-t-really-be-great-because-his-picture-isn-t-on-a-bubble/) [Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/) > [“I hope Ludwig van Beethoven gets his cut, Langdon thought, fairly certain that the original inventor of bone conduction technology was the eighteenth-century composer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/i-hope-ludwig-van-beethoven-gets-his-cut-langdon-thought-fairly/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [“A deaf composer's like a cook who's lost his sense of taste. A frog that's lost its webbed feet. A truck driver with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/a-deaf-composer-s-like-a-cook-who-s-lost-his-sense-of-taste-a-frog/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/pulse-as-an-active-means-of-expression-stravinsky-and-beethoven-are/) [Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/) > [I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) Browse all 240 Beethoven quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A lot of people don't know that Beethoven, when he wrote the Fifth Symphony, that second movement, he took eight years to figure that out!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wayne Shorter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethoven-when-he-wrote-the-fifth/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beethoven" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethoven-when-he-wrote-the-fifth/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/wayne-shorter-15146_beethoven_a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethove_2590244.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/wayne-shorter-15146_beethoven_a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethove_2590244.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/wayne-shorter-15146_beethoven_a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethove_2590244.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A lot of people don't know that Beethoven, when he wrote the Fifth Symphony, that second movement, he took…” — Wayne Shorter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wayne Shorter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A lot of people don't know...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethoven-when-he-wrote-the-fifth/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/a-lot-of-people-don-t-know-that-beethoven-when-he-wrote-the-fifth/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```