Profiles of Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Beethoven. Even in their
destinies the three masters are comparable, for their characters were
essentially akin and so drew down on each a similar fate. They were all,
throughout life, misanthropical, enigmatic, distrustful; and at certain
periods each approached the borderland of madness. Despite their
prodigious successes, all three had been perpetually in conflict with
the world; Michelangelo strove for power, Rembrandt for luxury,
Beethoven for love; but each attained his desire only by fits and
starts, and always at the cost of bitter experiences. All three lost the
few men and women whom they loved.